The Memory of the Robotnik Name
by Blade the Cyborg
Summary: Metal is back and badder than before! After being exiled from the Death Egg, Metal wanders in the jungle, encountering Emmi's good friend, Silver the Hedgehog, whom he unwillingly accepts to help find the monster known as Iblis. He also meets Cheryl Rayne, a young and cheerful girl. However, a certain hedgehog is still after him, and Metal will meet many horrors on this adventure.
1. Prologue

**Here's the second instalment into the series! Hope you like!**

_**The Memory of the Robotnik Name**_

**~Prologue~**

_(Current Year: 2004)_

Metal walked around the surface of the Earth, angry. He had been kicked out of the Death Egg by his creator, Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik. All this time Metal knew him as Ivo, but now he preferred to call him Eggman due to what he had done.

Right now Metal was in a jungle. He found a waterfall, deciding to sit on a rock near it. He was still upset over Callie's sudden, unfortunate death. It was all because of that stupid, corrupted hedgehog, Mephiles the Dark.

…

Silver had arrived in the year 2004. He looked around, unsure if this was the timeline he was supposed to be in. Now he was fourteen years old. Silver was in the same jungle as Metal.

'_This place sure is beautiful…' _Silver thought. That was when he saw Metal sitting on the rock. Quickly, Silver hid behind the tree, until remembering something. Metal was Eggman's robot, which meant that he was Emmi's friend. So Silver decided to walk over to Metal.

Metal detected Silver approaching, his irises brightening as he turned quickly, grabbing Silver by the throat.

"Why are you here?" Metal asked in a threatening tone of voice.

Silver choked a little. "I've… from… future…" he gagged. "Stop… Iblis… Save… Emmi…"

Before Silver's face turned purple and before he fell unconscious, Metal dropped him.

"Saving her is impossible," he stated.

"But I can travel through time," Silver corrected, rubbing his throat as he got back on his feet.

"Only Emmi could do that with her watch," Metal countered.

Silver held up his wrist, showing Metal the watch. "She wanted me to come back and stop Iblis, the one who destroyed my world, also mentioning that I might encounter you," he explained. "I also realised that I could use this to save her."

"You can't save a time-traveller," Metal confirmed. "It can cause a paradox." As he said that, he whirred, holding his head.

"Are you okay?" Silver asked.

Metal let go of his head slowly, standing straight. "…Just don't make me think of what I just mentioned," he replied. "Otherwise I'll malfunction. Trust me, you don't want to see me with a malfunction."

"I think I've heard about them," Silver recalled.

"I'm not even going to ask what you've heard," Metal responded. "Anyway, I should help you find that Iblis… thing."

"Since I'm not sure of when it rises, I'll stick with you until it does," Silver assured.

"Great…" Metal grunted, not sounding too pleased.

…

Nearby was a girl. She had black hair tied back in two ponytails, looking to be about eight years old. She was wearing a black dress with a white collar and long black sleeves, being white on the end. She wore a large belt which was black and shiny, and she was wearing rolled-up white socks with strap-on black shoes. Her eyes were green – a rather familiar green.

The girl was jumping along some stepping stones in a creak quite happily. She was unaware of the time-travelling hedgehog and the killer robot, also unaware about the attack Metal lead last year.

Whilst hopping along the stepping stones, the girl noticed an injured bird beside the creak, its wing broken. It was only a great tit, nothing like an owl or anything.

"Oh, you poor thing!" the girl exclaimed, horrified. She hopped to the side of the creak, picking the small bird up in her hands gently.

The bird tried to flap its wings, but it tweeted, which sounded like the tone of pain.

"Don't worry, I'll help you," the girl assured, carrying the bird to a large tree, sitting down. "I'll be right back." The girl then began climbing the tree, not very high, and onto one of the branches. She shuffled along it, pulling a first aid kid from the end of the branch where the leaves were. She climbed back down cared, making sure not to land on the great tit when jumping down from the smaller height she reached.

The girl began to bandage the bird's wing.

"There you go," she said after she was finished, after about two or three minutes.

The bird simply chirped, in what sounded like thanks.

"You're welcome," the girl smiled. "Soon you'll be better. But I'll let you rest in my tree for now." The girl held the bird carefully in one of her hands, struggling to climb up the tree one-handed. She placed the bird in a hole in the tree trunk, usually where you'd see owls nesting in the children's books. The girl then went back down and brought the first aid kit back up, putting it back in its rightful place.

The girl looked at the bird. "I'll go find some worms for you to eat," she said, heading back down and searching for some worms.

…

**So we've seen the main characters. Some weren't mentioned, I know, but they'll be in the story, like Mephiles, Cynthia and Metal Sniper. We'll also find out who the girl is very soon and we'll find out about her etc. Also, like the front cover? Yup, that's right, I have a front cover on the same time as I release the first chapter! The third instalment will be the same. What do you think? As a challenge, who is in Mephiles' eye?**


	2. Meetings

**~Meetings~**

Metal had decided to wander, being followed by the silver hedgehog.

"You know, this time is beautiful…" Silver stated. "Emmi said she'd bring me here one day. Guess she never had the time in the end…"

"Would you shut up for five minutes?" Metal asked angrily.

"Sorry," Silver apologized. "It's just… I've never seen such beauty in my life. My world is completely destroyed by Iblis."

"And I should care why, exactly?" Metal questioned.

"Like you'd ever understand. You're just a robot," Silver sighed.

"Don't enrage me, hedgehog. You won't like to see me when I'm angry," Metal assured.

"I keep telling you, my name is Silver!" Silver repeated.

Metal just ignored Silver as he walked.

…

The girl from before was searching for worms, having not found any yet.

"Looks like I need to start digging…" she stated. However, she suddenly heard voices coming closer.

"I don't think walking will get you out of here any time soon."

"I don't care. There's no purpose for me in this world anymore."

The girl gasped, hiding behind a tree fearfully. She looked around, seeing a silver hedgehog walking beside… a weird-looking hedgehog, as if it was made of metal.

"What is that?" she asked herself.

…

Metal suddenly stopped walking. "I'm detecting an organic presence nearby," he informed.

"Huh?" Silver asked.

Metal slowly walked over to a tree, cautious.

The girl behind it held her breath, trying to avoid making any noise as she closed her eyes tightly.

Metal looked, seeing the girl.

The girl knew he was there, trying to run, but tripping over a rock.

"What the…?" Silver reacted.

Metal backed off.

Silver walked over to the girl's side. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked softly.

The girl looked up at him. "I… I think so…" she replied.

"What's your name?" Silver asked.

"Cheryl," the girl answered. "Cheryl Rayne."

Metal saw a familiar necklace around Cheryl's neck. "Where did you get that?" he asked her.

Cheryl looked at him. "Get what?" she responded.

"The necklace around your neck," Metal replied.

"A few years ago I got a letter," Cheryl answered. "From a girl named Callie. The letter said this necklace would protect me."

Metal looked at her suspiciously, but then began walking.

"Where are you going?" Cheryl asked him.

"Nowhere," Metal answered as he walked.

Cheryl looked at Silver. "Is he normally like this?"

"I think something might have made him like this," Silver replied.

"Oh," Cheryl reacted.

…

Eggman was sat in his office, looking frustrated.

"My greatest creation failed me…" he growled to himself. On his desk in front of him was the photo album he had kept. Looking through it, he realised that getting rid of Metal was wrong. "I have to get him back. If he falls into the wrong hands, my plans of world domination would be ruined!" Eggman then stroked his moustache in thought. "Hmm… I should send one of my robots who has the most relation to Metal Sonic," he stated, pressing a button.

"_Yes, Master?"_

"Enter, my minion," Eggman replied.

_(Cue music: watch?v=34XjnXv0qXI) _

The doors opened automatically. In entered Metal's little brother, Metal Sniper.

"You called?" Sniper said.

"Metal Sniper, I have a favour to ask of you," Eggman replied.

"Uh, it's just Sniper, you know," Sniper corrected.

Eggman scowled at him.

"Yeah, so what's the favour?" Sniper asked impatiently.

"I want you to go down to Earth and find your brother," Eggman answered. "Then bring him back here."

"Got it," Sniper replied, doing a quick 'aye-aye, sir!' salute as he ran out of the room. While running out he grabbed his sniper rifle and pistol from the hooks on the wall, putting the pistol in his holster and the sniper rifle on his back while running.

Sniper ran to where Eggman usually left in his ships, jumping fearlessly out and using his booster to fly at full speed towards Earth.

"Hold on, big bro, 'cause Metal Sniper is about to join the party!" Sniper announced happily as he flew.

…

**Sniper is in! He's grown up… a little XD. Also, I'm gonna get the theme songs out of the way (Sniper's theme is probably obvious now XD):**

**Metal Sonic – What I'm Made Of… by Crush 40**

**Silver the Hedgehog – Dreams of an Absolution by Lee Brotherton**

**Cheryl Rayne – Can You Feel The Sunshine by T.J Davies**

**Metal Sniper – Believe in Myself (Sonic Adventure/Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut version)**

**Mephiles the Dark – Almost Dead by Powerman 5000**


	3. Family

**~Family~**

Metal continued his little walk. Indeed, he had no idea where he was going, but he didn't care. He had been cast out of his home, his best friend had been killed by one of his older friends and the rest of his friends were… dead. Funny enough, they were all shot.

Take Emmi, for example. Lovely friend who started off as a robot.

She was shot.

Then there was Marilyn. Fifty years of being locked away almost.

She was shot.

Finally there was Callie. Metal's closest friend who meant everything to him.

She was shot.

It was official. Metal had some sort of curse – all the nice girls he knew were shot. Because that was in his mind, there was no way he was going to even get to know Cheryl.

Suddenly, Metal heard the sound of a twig snapping behind him, turning around quickly. He didn't see anybody.

"I will obliterate this entire area if you don't show yourself," Metal warned, proving his point by zapping a tree, setting it on fire.

"Hey, watch it!" Sniper yelped, jumping from behind that same tree.

"Sniper?" Metal asked, sounding confused and surprised to see his brother.

"Yeah, hey, bro," Sniper reacted, keeping his distance from the burning tree. "Long time no see, right?"

Metal just had his usual, angry expression on his face. "If you've been sent to destroy me, then you're in for some big trouble," he stated.

"No, not at all!" Sniper responded quickly. "I've actually been sent to tell you to return."

"So, what, Eggman can dismantle me?" Metal countered. "Is that what it is?"

"…I'm not actually sure…" Sniper admitted.

"Then the answer is no," Metal finalized, walking off again.

"Oh, come on, Metal!" Sniper reacted. "I haven't seen you for a whole year!"

"Yeah, well, if I go back with you, you'd probably never see me again," Metal replied as he walked.

Sniper walked by his side, continuing to try and persuade Metal. "Look, if anything bad happens, I'll save you, okay?"

Metal just grabbed him by the throat, causing him to yelp. He pulled him close to his face, meeting him eye-to-eye. "I've made up my mind. Now stop bugging me and fly back. The answer is no," Metal confirmed. He pushed Sniper away, marching off.

Sniper watched him leave, letting out a robotic sigh.

Silver and Cheryl then appeared.

"Hey, have you seen a blue robot hedgehog go by here?" Silver asked.

"Well duh, he's my brother," Sniper answered. "I was sent to retrieve him from his banishment."

"Wait… you must be Metal Sniper, right?" Silver guessed.

"Sniper," Sniper corrected. "It's just Sniper. I prefer it that way."

"Sure," Silver responded. "Anyway, which way did he go?"

"That way," Sniper answered, pointing ahead of them.

"Thanks," Silver thanked. Before he walked away with Cheryl, he turned to Sniper again. "You should come with us. After all, you probably have the skill to track him down."

"I'm a robot, what else can I say?" Sniper responded. "Lead the way, man!"

"It's Silver," Silver corrected. "And this is Cheryl."

Cheryl waved shyly, not giving much eye contact.

Sniper waved back.

Silver began walking ahead of the two. "You tell me if we're heading in the right direction."

"Roger that," Sniper replied.

The three then began their search for Metal, Silver taking the lead as Sniper and Cheryl walked next to each other.

Sniper glanced at Cheryl, seeing she looked a little nervous. "…Are you okay?" he asked.

"I-I-I'm fine…" Cheryl replied, not looking at him.

"I was only asking…" Sniper muttered.

Cheryl sighed. "I'm just not used to… whatever you are," she admitted. "What are you?"

"I'm a robot," Sniper answered. "Like Metal."

"I've never seen a robot before," Cheryl revealed. "What's it like being one?"

"Um…" Sniper reacted, trying to think. "Well… We see things different?"

"Is that all?" Cheryl asked.

"We also… ugh… don't breathe," Sniper continued.

"Then how are you alive?" Cheryl questioned.

"Because we're amazing," Sniper answered proudly.

Cheryl laughed a little. "You're funny."

"I know I am," Sniper agreed.

"Hey, Sniper, do you think we can be friends?" Cheryl asked.

"Sounds like a plan," Sniper replied.

Cheryl smiled at him. "I like you," she said.

"I like you, too," Sniper compared. Something then bleeped on his scanner. "Hang on. I've got a reading on Metal. He's nearby."

"But where?" Silver asked, looking around.

Sniper checked, then ran through some of the trees.

"Where is he going?" asked Cheryl.

"I don't know," Silver replied. "Let's go!" He then ran off after Sniper.

Cheryl followed him.

…

Metal was sat on the grass by a lake. It was peaceful. The sound of the birds chirping and the water moving slightly was relaxing. Metal decided to switch off his eyes, enjoying the serenity. However, he was to be interrupted.

"Hey, Metal!" Sniper greeted, jumping in front of him.

Metal switched on his eyes, not impressed with Sniper's inconvenience. "What do you want?" he asked grumpily, wanting to get rid of Sniper as soon as he could.

"Oh, you know, I just wanted to see how you were doing," Sniper replied, hovering upside down.

"In other words, you came here to try and make me go with you back to the Death Egg," Metal translated.

"So what if I did?" Sniper responded.

Metal just reacted by switching off Sniper's engine. "Then this happens," he said, walking off.

Sniper fell on his head hard. "Oof!" he grunted. He got back to his feet, rubbing his head while following Metal.

"Metal, why won't you just trust me?" Sniper questioned.

"Because you work with Eggman!" Metal snapped in his face angrily, stopping to do so before continuing his walk.

"But we're brothers," Sniper reminded. "Metal, you've known me since the day I was created. What makes you think that I would try and bring harm to you if I practically owe my life to you?"

"I already answered that question: because you work with Eggman!" Metal repeated, sounding even angrier.

"Hey, I hate him as much as you do!" Sniper countered.

"That definitely explains why you still work for him," Metal replied sarcastically.

"Metal, up there I felt lost!" Sniper confirmed. "I felt like the only survivor of that attack because you left! I wanted to go with you, but the more I tried to escape, the more beatings I got from the doctor! I eventually learned to just go with it to avoid any punishments!"

Metal was silent.

"Just give me a chance, Metal. Please," Sniper requested.

"…Fine," Metal sighed, giving in. "But if you are trying _anything, _then I will not hesitate to destroy you."

"Right…" Sniper gulped.

"Also, it will be a while before I decide to return. I'm supposed to be helping Silver find this monster known as Iblis. Supposedly he appears in our life time," Metal continued.

"What's Iblis?" Sniper questioned.

"I have no idea," Metal replied. "Only Silver knows."

"Okay, so I stick with you and find Iblis, then you come back to the Death Egg with me. Deal?" Sniper finalized, extended his hand for a handshake.

"Deal," Metal agreed, shaking his hand.

"Alright then, let's get back to the other two," Sniper said, running to Silver and Cheryl, who weren't far away.

Metal ran after him.

"Looks like that's one problem solved," Silver stated.

"Yeah. That was all me!" Sniper responded proudly.

Metal face-palmed.

Cheryl was looking back behind them.

"What's wrong, Cheryl?" Silver asked.

"Well… I don't know if that bird I was helping will be okay if I leave it on its own for too long…" Cheryl replied. "It broke its wing…"

Metal heard this, looking at her. "…I can help," he revealed.

Cheryl and Silver looked at him.

"You can?" Cheryl asked.

Metal nodded. "Lead the way, human."

"Okay, so is your latest slang calling people by their species?" Sniper asked.

"Shut up," Metal replied angrily, narrowing his eyes at Sniper.

Sniper chuckled nervously.

"Follow me," Cheryl said, running off.

Metal followed.

Silver and Sniper also decided to follow behind them.

…

"Here we are," Cheryl said when they arrived, climbing up a tree.

Metal flew up after her, though the height wasn't that great.

Cheryl held the bird in her hands, showing it to Metal. "I already bandaged its wing."

"Could you take the bandage off?" Metal asked.

"Okay," Cheryl responded, unwrapping the bandage.

Metal sandwiched the bird's wing in his hands, which started to glow.

Cheryl, Silver and Sniper all seemed surprised.

The bird, after Metal let go and the glow had faded, spread out both of its wings, chirping happily as it flew up a little, flying around Metal in thanks while chirping.

"Okay, now… You can go away…" Metal stated.

The bird then flew off.

"How did you do that?" Cheryl asked, amazed.

"I was built for that purpose," Metal answered. "Sort of, anyway…"

…

**Sniper is a little bit irritating, right? Well, at least he's tagging along. This time he'll be useful. But the poor 'bot was apparently abused… :( Well, let's see how things go in the next chapter. And when exactly will Iblis rise? **


	4. Fears

**~Fears~**

"So it's likely that Iblis rises in a volcano or something," Silver finished after a quick theory while walking with the others.

"Well then, you're going to have to do that part on your own," Metal clarified.

"Why?" Silver asked.

"First reason, because I might push you in the volcano purposely and the second reason, I hate lava," Metal answered.

"Gee, you really are a grouchy robot, aren't you?" Silver mumbled.

"Don't push your luck, hedgehog," Metal warned.

"Again with the species thing!" Sniper interrupted.

"That also goes for you, _brother,_" Metal added.

"Well, excuse me for trying to improve your language skills!" Sniper reacted in a bratty tone of voice, putting his hands on his hips.

"Mr Metal Sonic, why do you hate lava so much?" Cheryl asked.

…

_(Flashback)_

Metal was helping his creator fix the lava chamber. Some of the beams had broken somehow, possibly a freak accident of some sort.

"Metal, try not to fall into the lava," Eggman warned as he was fixing the control panel, while Metal was crawling along the beams like a sloth, repairing them.

"I'm trying not to," Metal replied, continuing the repairs on the beams without even looking at Eggman.

"Good," Eggman replied, continuing to work on the control panel. However, the wrench he was using snapped. "Grr! The damn wrench again. You keep on fixing those beams while I go fetch a new one." And so, Eggman left the room.

Metal continued wielding the beams together, still hanging like a sloth, until footsteps could be heard coming along the beam he was on. That was when he saw the robot he thought had been dismantled years ago, meeting eyes with him. "You…!" he reacted.

"Yes. Me," the robot, Mecha Sonic, responded, kicking one of Metal's hands to cause him to lose grip.

Metal was using his other hand to hold on to the beam, until that one was kicked, as well. Metal watched as Mecha walked away along the beam, feeling himself be engulfed by the boiling hot substance. He was struggling to keep himself from being dragged under completely. "Master!" he shouted, sounding a little fearful. Eggman didn't come, so it was useless to even bother shouting. Metal could feel himself melting, sinking lower into the lava until only his hand was raised above it. Luckily, someone managed to grab it and pull him out of the lava.

…

"Callie…" Metal said to himself sadly.

"Huh?" Cheryl reacted.

Metal snapped out of his flashback, looking at her. "…There was an accident. That is all," he eventually answered.

Suddenly, his head began to feel weird. He held it with his hand.

"Metal? Metal, what's wrong?" Cheryl asked.

Metal could barely hear her as he saw a black hedgehog figure in the shadows of some trees, staring at him with lime green irises. Immediately, Metal knew who it was before passing out.

…

Metal found himself in pure darkness. Around him were just clouds of darkness. Immediately, Metal jumped to his feet. He knew that this was Mephiles' doing.

Mephiles appeared in front of him, laughing evilly. "It's been a long time, Metal Sonic…" he greeted.

"You know very well that that's not my name," Metal stated.

Mephiles just laughed again. "You have changed since we last met," he pointed out.

"That's because my best friend died because of your lies!" Metal yelled at him angrily. "If it wasn't for you she would still be here!"

"And she would have been captured by GUN," Mephiles concluded. "They were after you and Callie – they wanted you destroyed and Callie as their prisoner."

"Well, their mission failed altogether," Metal finalized. "I escaped alive, and Callie was killed."

"Their mission failed, but mine didn't," Mephiles stated.

"What do you mean by that?" Metal questioned, suspicious.

"You see, Metal Sonic, I become more powerful when someone dies because of my doing, but not when I do it myself," Mephiles explained. "For example, Callie's death was my fault, but when people look at the story: 'Girl killed by GUN aboard Death Egg', they wouldn't expect a failed GUN experiment to be involved, and even if they did think that, it wouldn't be classed as a murder."

"In my eyes, you will always be a murderer," Metal growled.

"I'm more known as one who manipulates," Mephiles corrected. "That is how I gain my power. I can manipulate people through their future that I make to happen, or through their fears." The dark hedgehog then disappeared, leaving Metal in the darkness for a moment before the setting changed.

Metal was standing on a small foothold in an endless sea of lava. His red irises shrunk.

…

"Why isn't he waking up?" Sniper asked.

"Well, one theory is he's out of charge, another is that he's just fainted in fright or something, and my final theory is that you've been hitting him with that stick too hard," Silver theorized.

Sniper looked at the large, chunky stick in his hand, which could easily knock someone out. He threw it away quickly, standing as if he hadn't done anything.

"We've gotta get him somewhere," Silver stated. "He might wake up soon."

…

"Tell me, Metal Sonic, are you afraid?" Mephiles' voice echoed.

Metal didn't even answer. He didn't want to admit that he was frightened.

Mephiles' laugh could be heard from around, echoing. "I also forgot to mention that I gain power from people's fears, which means I'm basically becoming stronger by the minute. The more fear one has, the more power I receive."

"I'm not afraid…" Metal answered eventually.

"That will soon change," Mephiles replied.

The foothold that Metal was on gave way, causing it to slant, half of the foothold sticking out, which Metal was now balancing on.

"I can tell that you are afraid, Metal Sonic. Not all robots feel fear, but I know that you do," Mephiles antagonized.

"Leave me the hell alone…" Metal snarled.

Mephiles laughed again.

The foothold Metal was on suddenly sank before his eyes, but before Metal could make contact with the lava, everything went black again.

…

Metal jumped up suddenly, finding himself in a tree. He saw Cheryl, Silver and Sniper sat on different branches.

"You had us worried for a moment there, bro," Sniper stated.

"…Sorry," Metal apologized. "But I have some news."

"What is it?" Silver asked.

"Mephiles has returned," Metal answered.

…

**You can probably guess why I've made Metal afraid of lava. If you can't, here is a hint: OVA. That's all I'm going to give you. Or, alternatively, Issue #87. Hopefully you would have figured this out by next chapter, where the adventure may truly begin…**


	5. Adventure

**~Adventure~**

"Who's Mephiles?" Silver asked, confused.

"Someone who ruined my life…" Metal answered, growling.

"How?" Silver questioned.

Metal just remembered Callie standing on the other side of the glass wall. He clenched his fists angrily as his irises brightened.

"Metal?" Silver called quietly.

Metal glared at him, his irises returning to normal as he became less tense. "Let's just get out of this place. We have to stop Mephiles."

"Can I come with you?" Cheryl asked.

"It's too dangerous for little girls. You should go home," Metal replied.

"Um… I don't have a home…" Cheryl revealed.

"Wait, so where do you live? Who looks after you?" Silver asked.

"Nobody looks after me…" Cheryl admitted sadly. "My parents died when I was three… Now, I live on my own here in the jungle."

"Then you can come with us," Sniper responded. "We won't leave you. Well, Silver and I won't. I'm not sure about my brother, though."

"Sniper, what have I just warned you about numerous times?" Metal quizzed.

"I'll be good…" Sniper sighed.

"Look, whoever this Mephiles guy is, I'm guessing you want to find him fast, so let's go!" Silver interrupted, using his powers so he could fly off.

Metal flew off after him.

Sniper picked Cheryl up. "Hold on, and let me know if you need to vomit," he instructed, starting up his engine.

"Why-ARGH!" Cheryl screamed as Sniper took off at full speed.

…

Metal, Silver, Sniper and Cheryl all arrived on Prison Island.

"I thought this place blew up," Sniper thought aloud.

"No, it only unleashed lots of toxic waste," Metal replied.

"Oh," Sniper responded.

Cheryl was groaning slightly.

Sniper looked at her, laughing slightly. "I did warn you."

"I… I think I'll manage to survive…" Cheryl assured.

Silver looked around. "Are you sure this is the right place?" he asked.

"I picked up some of Mephiles' traits on my scanner, so he should be here," Metal answered. "And if he isn't here, he would have left some clues behind."

"Then let's get a move on, we won't get anywhere by standing here like melons!" Sniper finalized, walking past them.

Cheryl was just walking woozily.

Silver looked at Metal. "And you two are supposed to be related?" he asked, referring to Sniper.

"He's defective," Metal answered.

"What do you mean?" Silver questioned, almost sounding somewhat concerned.

"Back at the time, I was an early-starting fighter robot, torn between destruction and protection," Metal began. "My creator, Doctor Eggman, invented Sniper, but there was an error in his programing, so I was sent to find him with his blueprints and bring him back. He was such an error that Eggman wanted to have him destroyed. If the situation was to happen now, I would do it without remorse, but back then, I had to help him."

"Why is everything so different now?" Silver asked. "What's made you not care? Has something happened?"

"…I don't want to talk about it," Metal responded, walking off.

Silver followed him.

Sniper was walking ahead as Cheryl walked behind him, still dizzy and sick, but getting better.

"Do we even know where we're going?" Cheryl asked groggily.

"Nope," Sniper replied, sounding confident.

"…Why do you sound so confident?" Cheryl asked.

Sniper shrugged.

Cheryl smiled, laughing a little.

Sniper then saw a barb-wire fence with a 'NO TRESPASSING' sign on it.

"Ooh, lookie, let's go in here~!" Sniper whistled, running over to the gate so he could enter.

Cheryl followed behind him, running to his side, now feeling better. "Um, the sign clearly says 'No Trespassing'," she pointed out.

"I know," Sniper acknowledged, pulling out his pistol. "Cover your ears."

Cheryl covered her ears.

Sniper shot at the padlock on the gate three times until it broke off, flipping the pistol around his finger before putting it back in his holster. He pulled open the door, walking inside.

"We really shouldn't be going in here," Cheryl repeated.

"Hey, what's the worst that could happen?" Sniper asked, opening the rusty trapdoor on the ground. There was a ladder which he began climbing down.

Cheryl climbed down after him slowly. She hadn't climbed ladders much, if not ever before in her life. The ladder was also rusty and unsteady.

"Come on, slow coach!" Sniper taunted.

"Hey, you can fly, so you wouldn't have a problem if you fell!" Cheryl reminded, whispering.

Sniper flew up and took hold of her, flying her to the ground. "Well, if you did fall I'd easily catch you because I'm awesome," he stated.

Cheryl put her hands on her hips. "You really like to push your look, don't you?" she asked.

"Yup," Sniper answered proudly. "C'mon, let's look around!"

…

Metal and Silver saw where the two had gone.

"This is why people should never let their kids out of their sight for a split second, I'm guessing," Metal guessed.

"We're not their parents," Silver corrected.

Metal just looked at him as if he was stupid, then deciding to head over to the door in the ground, climbing down the ladder.

Silver used his powers to float down.

Metal walked around, hearing Sniper and Cheryl talking ahead of them. "I can hear them," he said casually.

"Then let's go!" Silver said, running after the other two.

Metal rolled his pixelated eyes, following behind.

Silver caught up with Sniper and Cheryl. "You two need to stop wandering off," he stated.

"Gee, you sound like my mother," Sniper grumbled.

'_He really is defective,' _Silver thought.

Meanwhile, Metal walked a short distance away from the three. They were in an underground laboratory. Everything seemed boring for a while, until one robot seemed to catch his eye. From being startled, he tripped over and knocked a lever on a control panel which awakened the robot, the pink eyes switching on once the glass had lowered. Metal was in complete shock.

…

**Yup, they're in the lab which Mephiles appeared in way back in the 1980's! And a familiar robot has been found… But who? Find out next chapter!**


	6. Intelligence

**~Intelligence~**

Metal looked the robot in the eyes, while the robot looked back in his. While Metal's eyes showed a little expression, the other mech's eyes didn't.

The other robot seemed to have scanned Metal, then 'blinking' a few times. Emotion then seemed to fuel its face. "…Metal?" it asked in a feminine voice.

Metal was a little taken back for words. "You… How… What… ALIVE!" he reacted, sounding overly confused.

"Actually, how am I alive?" the robot asked, sounding confused herself.

Silver, Cheryl and Sniper ran over.

"Metal, is something happening over-" Silver cut himself off at the sight of a familiar robot. "EMMI…"

EMMI saw Silver, smiling. "Silver…" she responded.

"Whoa, EMMI, you're back!" Sniper reacted. "But how?"

"Not even I know," EMMI replied. "Hopefully I'll find out soon. Now, help me find a de-roboticizing machine so I can get out of this mechanical body."

"You're going to have to be patient with that," Metal stated.

"Fine by me," EMMI replied. "So, what's happened recently? In the four years I've been dead, I mean?"

"Mephiles caused great devastation aboard the Death Egg," Metal answered.

"How?" EMMI questioned.

"Because of his actions, Mecha Sonic came back and killed Callie. He caused Marilyn to die. He caused me to go insane!" Metal snapped in response.

EMMI fell silent, shocked.

"If it wasn't for him Callie would still be alive…" Metal reminded himself, sounding sad as he gazed at his feet.

Cheryl put her hand on Metal's shoulder.

Metal looked at her.

"You're sad, aren't you, Mr Metal Sonic?" Cheryl guessed.

"My name is just Metal," Metal finalized. "But… Yes… I am very, very sad, Cheryl."

"Callie was your friend, wasn't she?" Cheryl continued.

Metal just decided to walk away.

"I feel for him…" EMMI sighed.

"Let me talk to him. This may need to be a brother-to-brother chat," Sniper replied, following Metal out.

…

Metal left the lab itself, Sniper following behind.

"I know you're there, Sniper," Metal confirmed without having to turn around.

"I really just wanted to see if you were okay this time," Sniper admitted. "I'm not trying to be annoying in this situation."

"If you really don't want to be annoying, then go away," Metal responded.

"Metal, I know how upset you are! You're forgetting that I was there, too!" Sniper exclaimed. "I watched one of my friends die, too!"

"You didn't know Marilyn for that long!" Metal snapped. "I knew Callie all my life! My purpose was to protect her from harm!"

"I'm just trying to be a good brother…" Sniper grumbled, walking off.

Metal turned around and watched him walk away as if he had done something wrong, sighing. He walked after him.

"Sniper… I'm sorry," Metal apologized softly. He gently grabbed his arm.

Sniper turned and looked at him.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you…" Metal continued. "It's just that… I've really been disturbed by everything that's happened recently…"

Sniper decided to give his older brother a hug. "But we've still got each other," he added. "Together we can get over these issues, right?"

"Hopefully…" Metal agreed. But the images which really disturbed him would not leave his mind.

_..._

_(Flashback)_

Metal fell into the lava. "Master!" he shouted, in an attempt to get his creator's attention. Nobody came. But just as he was under the lava, he was grabbed and yanked out.

Dimly, Metal's eyes switched on. He saw Callie's warm, comforting smile. She was always there for him no matter what. Even though he was on the verge of deactivation for good, he would've smiled back.

…

_(Flashback)_

Metal collapsed to his knees in horror, witnessing his best friend dying before him on the other side of the glass.

Callie's eyes sparkled because of the tears as she smiled weakly. The same, selfless and comforting smile.

"Metal… Go on with your life… You still have many more purposes… Some that you are yet to discover…" Callie struggled to say. "You're not just a mindless robot, Metal… You're a guardian, a brother, a son, and most importantly… a friend…"

"Callie…!" Metal reacted, still in complete shock and horror.

Tears fell from Callie's eyes. "We had our time together, Metal, but you have to move on… I'm sure one day we may meet again…" She paused before continuing. "You're capable of many things, Metal, for I have seen it with my own eyes… Now, you must be the great robot you were meant to be… All of Earth will know just how great you truly are if you give them a chance to know your full story… Metal… Never forget about me, but try your best to forget the tragedies of your life and move on… Look on the bright side of life… Always… Metal… I love you…" Callie's eyes then slowly closed as she fell onto her side.

Metal was slow to take in what had happened since it was so sudden and horrifying, slowly looking up to look at Agent M, Callie's murderer. It was Mecha Sonic.

…

"Metal? Metal~?" Sniper called, waving his hand in front of Metal's eyes.

Metal snapped out of his memories and looked at him.

"I thought you were malfunctioning, bro," Sniper announced.

"Get the others. We're getting out of this place and we're going to find a good place to stay. Jungles aren't really my thing," Metal commanded.

"Yeah, you're more into a more… metallic surrounding," Sniper acknowledged. "Stay right here while I go get the others." Sniper then ran off to get Cheryl, Silver and EMMI.

…

Eggman was watching all of Sniper's actions through Sniper's own eyes.

"Gr! The brat still doesn't know his techniques of threatening others!" he yelled angrily, slamming his fist onto the desk. "Well, I think it's time to put that failed robot out of his misery painfully." Eggman turned his attention to some buttons and switches on the desk as he stroked his long moustache.

…

**Eggman's planning to kill Sniper! :O Will Metal find a way to help his brother? Will he just leave him? Or will he face another life-haunting fear? Find out next chapter!**


	7. Operation

**~Operation~**

Sniper returned with the others. "Alright, bro, we're ready to go!" he assured.

"Good, now let's get the hell out of this wretched place," Metal responded, flying upwards.

"Where are we going now?" Cheryl asked.

"Anywhere that has no vegetation, apparently," Sniper replied, taking hold of her and flying upwards after Metal.

Silver used his powers to float up with EMMI by his side. He looked at her with a warm smile.

EMMI smiled back.

"Hey, you two! Stop goo-goo-eyeing each other and get a move on!" Sniper shouted, flying off beside Metal.

Silver blushed, looking at EMMI.

"Let's just go," EMMI laughed.

"Alright," Silver agreed, flying off after them.

EMMI flew beside him.

…

Eventually the group ended up at an old, abandoned mine.

"This place looks good enough," Sniper stated.

Metal entered the mine without saying anything.

"And here he goes with the silent treatment again!" Sniper narrated.

"Let's just go and see what the place is like inside," Silver said, heading in.

EMMI followed him.

Sniper and Cheryl were the last ones in.

"Whoa… This place is huge!" Sniper acknowledged. He ran over to a mineshaft and jumped into the mine cart. "Hey, Cheryl! Give me a push!"

Cheryl ran over to him. "Are you sure about this?" she asked.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Sniper questioned, rocking the cart forwards and backwards while in it. "Come one, this'll be fun!"

"If you're sure…" Cheryl responded, pushing Sniper's cart as hard as she could.

"Whhhoooaa!" Sniper yelled as he fell down a drop.

Cheryl heard his voice get further away down within the blackness.

"Woohoo!" Sniper could last be heard cheering with a drone, until there was silence.

"…Sniper?" Cheryl asked after two minutes had passed. She then heard a crash from behind. Quickly, she turned around. From the exit near the ceiling, Sniper had fallen from his cart, crashing to the floor.

Cheryl quickly sprinted to see if he was alright. "Oh my goodness, are you okay?" she asked, worried.

Sniper was dizzy at first, but shook his head quickly and sat up in an instant. "That was awesome! Let's do it again!" he answered.

Cheryl sighed, laughing a little.

…

Metal looked up, seeing beams to support the high ceiling. Looking at these beams gave him that flashback again.

…

_(Flashback)_

"You…!" Metal exclaimed.

"Yes. Me," Mecha replied, kicking his hand.

Metal used his other hand to hold on, but that one was kicked, too. Metal fell into the lava below.

…

"Damn that Mecha Sonic…" Metal growled, looking for somewhere to rest. He wanted to be away from the others and in the darkness.

…

Sniper and Cheryl were outside the mine, looking at the forests over the grassy hills.

"So we get a free home and a sweet view. Cool," Sniper announced.

Cheryl giggled.

Sniper chuckled with her.

"Hey, Sniper, have you ever wondered what makes forests and jungles so different?" Cheryl asked.

"Jungles are tropical with much life in it, forests are not tropical and have a different type of wildlife habiting in it," Sniper answered.

"What does tropical mean?" Cheryl questioned.

"Well, it means…" Sniper responded, but then buzzed, cringing.

"Sniper? Are you okay?" Cheryl asked.

"I'll be fine!" Sniper assured, putting up his thumb, before falling onto his back and cringing even more. He was groaning painfully.

Cheryl wasn't sure what to do. "Sniper, what's happening!" she demanded to know.

"I don't know…!" Sniper replied. "Get my brother…!"

Cheryl nodded, running into the mine to find Metal.

…

Metal was still looking for a decent place to rest, until hearing Cheryl shouting for him.

"Metal! Sniper needs your help!" Cheryl cried. "He's suddenly started twitching weirdly and he looks like he's in pain!"

Metal looked at her. "Where is he?" he asked, concerned.

"I'll take you to him!" Cheryl replied, running off and to the exit up the number of steps.

Metal flew ahead of her, picking her up on the way past her. She put her down once getting outside, seeing Sniper holding his head and near screaming, buzzing. He was definitely in pain.

Metal appeared beside his brother, supporting him in his arms.

"Sniper, what's happening?" he asked.

"I… I… don't… know!" Sniper struggled to say. "Metal… Help me…!"

Metal scanned Sniper for anything, before he looked a little surprised. "That's not good…" he stated.

"What…?" Sniper asked painfully.

"Eggman planted a device in you to kill you painfully and slowly," Metal revealed. "My theory is that he did this in case you failed your mission to retrieve me."

"Then I'm… putting the blame on… you!" Sniper confirmed.

"I'll help you get it out," Metal assured.

"Yeah… well if I die because of this I'm gonna kill you!" Sniper responded.

Metal shook his head at his statement, picking him up. "Cheryl, come with me."

Cheryl followed Metal back into the mine, worried.

EMMI and Silver saw Metal returning with Sniper. EMMI gasped.

"What's happening to him?" EMMI asked, panicking.

"This is Eggman's doing," Metal answered. "There's a device inside him which we're going to have to remove quickly."

"Will he be alright?" EMMI questioned.

"Guys… I'm bloody dying here…!" Sniper reminded. "Of course… I'm not going to be alright…!" He then suddenly screamed in agony.

"Sniper, the more you talk, the more pain there is," Metal reminded.

"I don't give a damn!" Sniper quickly snapped to get it off his chest.

Metal sighed. "Is there any sort of workbench in here?" he asked.

EMMI looked around. "Over there!" she pointed. "It's a table and there are some tools around it!"

"Man… I do hate tools…" Sniper growled painfully.

"If you want to suffer a slow and painful death, be my guest," Metal offered.

Sniper cringed in pain, groaning. "Okay… Okay! Just… help… me…!"

Metal carried Sniper over to the wooden table. Sniper was looking at the tools – a drill, a saw, a chainsaw, a glue gun, a fuser, a ripsaw and a hammer. He really didn't like the look of them. Metal placed Sniper down on the table carefully.

"Sniper, I need you to keep your eyes on me at all times, okay?" Metal instructed.

"Why wouldn't I… stare at you? After all… you are extremely attractive!" Sniper responded sarcastically.

"I also need you to be quiet," Metal continued.

"How can I be quiet if I'm freakin' dying!" Sniper yelled.

Metal sighed. "I need you to shut yourself down," he commanded.

"But what if… I don't come back online?" Sniper asked, worried.

"You will come back online, I promise," Metal promised.

"What does that mean, Metal?" Cheryl asked. "What does he means when he says if he won't come back online? And the shutting down thing?"

"Shutting down is like going to sleep," Metal answered. "And online is a way of saying waking up."

"So when he says he might not come back online… he means that he won't wake up?" Cheryl questioned.

Metal nodded. "But I'll make sure he wakes up."

"Helloooo! While I'm here dying… it would be helpful if you at least tried to help me…!" Sniper interrupted.

Metal turned his attention back to his brother. "Alright. Just shut yourself off until I finish this procedure," he stated.

"But I might… die while… you're working…" Sniper reminded.

"You won't," Metal countered. "Just shut down."

Hesitant, Sniper shut himself down.

Metal watched his eyes go off slowly, waiting until he was definitely shut down. He then picked up the ripsaw, beginning to cut into Sniper's chest in the centre, where the lightning bolt was painted.

"You know what you're doing, right?" Cheryl asked.

"I'm a robot, Cheryl, we're always accurate," Metal replied.

"But why?" Cheryl questioned.

"I'm trying to concentrate, now be quiet," Metal demanded while he worked.

Cheryl decided to sit quiet.

Metal had eventually opened up Sniper's chest, finding a black cuboid-shaped device with a red blinking LED, linked up to his wires. He had to use his ripsaw again, carefully removing the device by cutting it of the wires, Luckily Metal managed to fix these wires without using any tools. He then passed the device to EMMI. "EMMI, take that outside and dispose of it at once," he commanded.

EMMI nodded, running outside.

Metal then began using the fuser to weld Sniper's chest back together. Still, even the littlest things like using fusers reminded him of that time he fell in the lava…

Metal had then finished fixing Sniper, putting the fuser down. He nudged his brother once. "Sniper. You're fixed," he announced.

For a moment there was no reaction from Sniper, until his orange irises switched on. He sat up, looking at Metal, his expression obviously showing that he was happy. He tried to thank him, but all that came out was a bleeping sound. Metal had accidently messed with his voice.

Metal laughed a little, which wasn't a very common thing for him anymore.

EMMI returned. "The device has been disposed of," she assured, noticing that Metal was amused by something. "What's going on? Have I missed something?"

"I'm just entertained by Sniper's silence," Metal responded.

Sniper bleeped again as if trying to say something to EMMI.

"Silence? Really?" EMMI laughed.

Sniper put his hands on his hips, attempting a frown as he bleeped again.

EMMI, Silver, Metal and Cheryl all laughed.

"You know, I think we should keep him like this," Metal stated.

Sniper bleeped loudly as if annoyed.

Metal looked at him. "Don't worry, I'll fix you when I'm in the mood, _bro," _Metal assured, almost mocking Sniper.

Sniper attempted to sigh, which again came out as a bleeping sound. It was going to be a while until everyone calmed down from this 'hilarious' situation.

…

**At least Sniper isn't dead :D but he's got no voice. Yay! I mean, how sad (lolz). Well, Eggman failed to achieve his goal (again), Sniper's alive, the gang have a *decent* place to stay and Metal's finally getting a sense of humour. And since Sniper and Cheryl are the same age, who thinks they look good together? :3 See you next chapter! **


	8. Settled

**~Settled~**

Metal was sitting on the gritty, grey floor of the large, spacey mine. He liked the new atmosphere. It was much better than being in a rotten, colourful jungle. However, Prison Island did have a relatively decent jungle. It had toxic waste poisoning everything.

Sitting in the corner where the darkness was, Metal looked depressed. In the centre of the almost-empty mine was beams of light coming from the holes in the rotten, wooden roof. Though Metal looked depressed, he almost felt himself smile mockingly when Sniper walked past him through the beams of light. Sniper glanced at his brother briefly, but carried on walking.

"It's good to get some peace and quiet around here," Metal said to himself happily, deliberately wanting Sniper to hear.

Sniper narrowed his eyes at Metal, emitting a robotic growl. He wandered off.

Cheryl appeared, looking at Metal hiding in the shadows. "You should really fix his voice," she said, trying to sound as polite as she could.

"I'll do it when I feel it is appropriate," Metal replied.

"I thought brothers looked out for each other," Cheryl responded.

"They do indeed; it's just that I find Sniper highly annoying sometimes. I find it entertaining that he no longer can speak – for now, that is," Metal explained.

"I feel sorry for him…" Cheryl admitted.

"Don't be sorry for him, he's irritating," Metal reacted.

"He's nice…" Cheryl argued quietly.

"I'll admit that he's not nasty, but he can be annoying," Metal gave in. "He was alright a year ago, but now he's changed."

"Is that in a good way?" Cheryl asked.

"No, because he's a cocky little shit," Metal answered.

…

Mephiles was in his hedgehog form, the form he took when not battling or offending. He was at the old abandoned laboratory where Metal and the gang were previously. Looking through EMMI's eyes, he realised how everything was going according to plan. As long as they didn't de-roboticize her, it was almost a 100% chance of his plan succeeding.

The artificial hedgehog laughed, thinking about the aftermath of his plan. However, something else was then on his mind as he teleported away through a purple sphere of energy.

…

EMMI saw Metal and Cheryl talking to one another, mainly hearing them mention Sniper. She walked over to them.

"Hey guys," she greeted.

"Hello," Cheryl replied.

Metal didn't bother saying anything. He only nodded his head.

"What are you guys talking about over here?" EMMI asked.

"Metal finds it funny that Sniper can't talk," Cheryl answered.

"Serves him right for being annoying," Metal reacted.

"You're so mean," Cheryl responded.

"Guys, guys, quit it," EMMI interrupted. "Look, we're going to be staying here for a while, so why don't we move off the subject and lighten this place up a little?"

"Now?" Metal asked, not in the mood for decorating.

"Yes," EMMI answered snappily, pulling him up to his feet harshly.

"Come on, Mr Metal, it would be fun~!" Cheryl chirped. "Let's go!

"I need to find my own room, first…" Metal grumbled, wandering off.

"You've just got to feel sorry for that guy," EMMI stated.

"I'll see how he is later. I think now I'll find my own room, too – and help Sniper and Silver find a room. You should find one, two," Cheryl said, skipping off.

EMMI just shrugged, wandering off to also find a room.

…

Mephiles appeared in a dark interrogation room, dimly lit. The walls were a dark grey, one window being visible, and a metal table in the middle. Sat on one side of the table on the grey chair with her hands cuffed behind the chair was Agent Cynthia West. Mephiles blended into the shadows, watching the situation.

A man, wearing a black suit and black tie, was standing behind the chair directly opposite her, two dark-skinned men guarding the way out with earpieces and sunglasses, dressed the same way. The man was also wearing sunglasses and was fair skinned, his hair short and neatly combed, black coloured.

"So, Agent Cynthia West, you no longer have anywhere to run or anywhere to hide," the man said.

Cynthia gave him no eye-contact as she stared at her knees.

The man slapped her across the face hard. "This will be much easier if you just tell me what I need to know," he stated. "Now, tell me the password for GUN's network."

Cynthia just gave him a death glare.

The man backed off a little. He knew that this wasn't going to be easy. One of the guards handed him a tazer, which he used on Cynthia, causing Cynthia to scream an altered scream. The man turned off the tazer.

"Now you see why it would be wise to tell me what I want to know," the man reminded.

"Alright… I'll tell you," Cynthia panted. "The password is… uP-y0uR-a55."

The man wrote it down in his notepad with his pen. "Now then, that wasn't so hard, was it?" the man asked rhetorically.

Cynthia narrowed her eyes at him.

"Next question: Tell me what you know about ''Project GULF''," the man requested.

Cynthia's eyes widened slightly, knowing what he was talking about. She slowly looked up at him with her shocked expression. "…Why do you want to know?" she asked.

The man pointed the tazer at her, not saying anything.

Cynthia decided to answer again to avoid being tazed. "He was a failed GUN experiment many years ago. After he was corrupted he disappeared. I haven't seen him since."

"And the Sceptre of Darkness you created has a connection with the project, correct?" the man interrogated.

Cynthia nodded.

"What connection does it have with him?" the man questioned.

"It's a weapon for him to use," Cynthia answered.

"But isn't he your enemy?" the man asked.

"I just betrayed GUN," Cynthia reminded.

The man nodded, acknowledging the point. He smiled falsely. "Well, thank you for your time, Agent West," he thanked, turning to the two men by the door. "Take her away now."

The two men approached her, forcing her onto her feet. Cynthia half-smiled to herself smugly, glancing at the man. "Hey, posh-boy. Why don't you read that password out to me?"

The man looked at the password, reading it as if it were words. "Up… Your…" When realising what the last word was, he scowled at Cynthia.

Cynthia smirked. "Yeah. Exactly," she responded. She elbowed one of the men, high-kicking the other in the face, finally sprinting out of the room.

The leading man growled angrily, shooting a glance at the two men. "Go after her! Now!" he commanded.

The two men ran off after Cynthia.

The other man found his pistol and made sure it was loaded, also running out of the room.

…

Cynthia managed to exit the building, which was well-hidden. She found herself on a grassy mountain, looking below at a possible rainforest. Before she knew it, both the two guard-men grabbed her.

"Gr! Let go of me!" she demanded, struggling against their grip since she still had her handcuffs on.

The man walked up and aimed his gun at her. "You had your chance, but you gave me false information," he stated, pulling the trigger.

Cynthia's eyes widened as the bullet went right through her. She was dropped by the two men, holding her stomach where she was shot and falling onto her front.

The man aimed at her head as she looked up at him slowly. "Thank you for your time, Agent West," he said. But before he could fire, he saw the two other men holding their heads in pain, collapsing to their knees. They were both screaming, until suddenly they seemed to have fallen unconscious. Either that or they had somehow died.

Cynthia was confused by this, as was the man. He looked back at the downed Cynthia. "What did you do!" he snapped, clicking his gun.

"This isn't me…" Cynthia answered, cringing as she held her stomach.

The man was next to find himself with a pain in his head, only this time much worse. In fact, it was so painful that his brain was probably going to explode.

Mephiles, now in his crystalline form, stepped out of the shadow under a tree, approaching him.

The man aimed his gun at him. "You… You're the corrupted project!" he shouted.

"Yes, I am," Mephiles responded proudly. "Are you going to use that gun on me… or yourself?"

The man instantly shot at Mephiles, but nothing happened. He was in horror.

Mephiles chuckled darkly. "You can't kill me with such a pathetic weapon," he stated. He had his arms out to the side, signalling that he was an open target. "Go ahead. Make your next move."

The man was about to shoot him again, until finding it was no use. Slowly and hesitantly, he put the gun to his own head, tightening his eyes shut as he held back agonized screams. Cynthia had to look away as he pulled the trigger, killing himself to end the pain. Mephiles was glad to see this, almost managing to smile evilly.

Cynthia watched as the man fell to the ground, blood pouring from his head. She felt herself bleeding out, looking up at Mephiles, who had his back to her.

"You shouldn't be here…" Cynthia growled.

Mephiles turned and looked down at her, approaching closer. "I can be wherever I want to be," he confirmed. "You can't tell me where I'm allowed to be."

"It's my main goal to capture you…" Cynthia responded. "I will remove that dark matter from you if it's the last thing I do – and I don't care if I kill you…"

"You realise that you're dying," Mephiles reminded.

"Then I hope you burn in Hell…" Cynthia rasped, passing out.

Mephiles picked her up, disappearing in a sphere of dark energy.

…

**Sniper isn't amused -_- **

**Oh, well – I am! XD And at last, Metal swore! Then again, he did swear in the previous story… **

**I have recently discovered that I like it when people say what their favourite part of the chapter was. I'm not saying you **_**have**_** to review it (DO IT OR I KILL YOU! Just kidding XD), I'm just saying that I like it. Also, I'm keeping the **_**'…' **_**when I take breaks because it's my style and I like it. Au revoir! **


	9. Decorating

**~Decorating~**

Cheryl was walking around, searching for a room. There wasn't really much in the place. At some point a spider landed on her shoulder and she put it back on a web. Other than that, she hadn't got very far.

What Cheryl had discovered was that there were barely any rooms in a mine. When she finally found one, she saw that she wasn't the only finder. Sniper, Silver, EMMI and Metal were all there, too.

"Looks like this is the only room," EMMI announced.

"It's big enough to fit us all in," Metal stated. "But if our aim is to decorate it, and if we want some privacy, nothing's going to work out."

Sniper bleeped, raising his hand and jumping up and down.

"I'm ignoring the deranged thing over there," Metal stated.

Silver walked over to Sniper. "What are you trying to say, Sniper?" he asked.

Sniper began doing some charade-like moves.

"You have an idea… that we should… use some of the unused wooden planks… to build us each a room… which we can decorate…" Silver guessed as he watched Sniper.

Sniper nodding, bleeping happily.

"Hey, that's not actually a bad idea," Silver pinioned, turning back to the others. "Guys, we should just build our rooms in this large one!"

"For once I agree with Trunks," Metal said, insulting Silver in a way.

"Huh?" Silver reacted, not getting the joke.

"…Never mind," Metal replied. "Come on – let's get to work, then."

The group went separate ways to work on their separate rooms individually, not bothering one another.

Sniper rolled his eyes, feeling a little forgotten since the idea was really his. However, he went off and began building his own room, anyway.

…

Mephiles was back in his laboratory on Prison Island with Cynthia. She was bleeding out quite badly. Cynthia was still unconscious at the moment, and looked pale in the face. Carefully, Mephiles placed her in a glass cylindrical tube. He then got out a knife and cut the palm of his hand, allowing the black blood to drip onto Cynthia's gunshot wound. Next he sealed her in the tube. His cut healed as he walked over to a control panel, flipping a few switches. Power charges could be heard as a light blue flash of light occurred, filling the room. A normal being would have looked away to avoid being blinded, but Mephiles wasn't what someone would call 'normal'. He didn't need to look away, so he just watched.

The light faded after about a minute or so. Cynthia was still inside only… she wasn't herself. She was a hedgehog. Not just a hedgehog, a dark hedgehog. GUN probably wouldn't react too kindly to this.

Mephiles then flipped another switch. Cynthia was then teleported away back to the fortress. Now that that was done, Mephiles returned to his original plans, returning to watching the screens again.

…

Everyone's room was built and painted. All they had to do was add things into it which fitted with themselves.

Cheryl's room was a jungle-green colour. The colour made her think of the jungle she lived in for many years, so she didn't feel entirely homesick. She was going to put in a few plants to make it more atmospheric.

Sniper's room was next to Cheryl's. Inside of it the colour was light grey. He was going to put up some posters and attempt to get a working CD player. Oh, and of course, a few pets wouldn't kill anyone. Unless he had a pet tiger.

Metal's room was next to Sniper's, the colour being light blue. Yes, he wanted to make this room similar to the one he had on the Death Egg, meaning he needed posters, too, and maybe more items such as videogames.

Silver's room was opposite Metal's. His room was dark grey. He was planning to put in a computer and maybe some stuff from his time.

And finally, EMMI's room was beside Silver's and opposite Sniper's. Her room was light violet, and like Silver she was going to add some futuristic stuff. Like everyone else, she had a sleeping bag to sleep in.

…

By night time, everyone was in their rooms. Metal was in his, making sure every poster he had put up was definitely straight. Not even the slightest thing could be wonky in his room. No, everything had to be drop-dead accurate.

Cheryl slowly walked to the door of his room, knocking on it although it was open.

Metal sighed. "What do you want?" he asked, not even knowing who it was since he hadn't turned around.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing…" Cheryl replied shyly.

"Just the usual," Metal responded. "The merciless, heartless, angry Metal everybody knows."

"But why are you so grouchy?" Cheryl questioned. "Have you always been like this?"

Metal turned to face her. "I'm going to have to make a few boundaries with you around," he stated, walking a little closer.

"Metal, I know that something made you change. Why can't you tell me? I won't be mean to you about it," Cheryl assured.

"Because I would sound soft," Metal answered. "And I'm not soft anymore."

"Anymore?" Cheryl asked.

Metal face-palmed, frustrated. "Will you please just leave me alone?"

"Not until you tell me what happened to make you like this," Cheryl countered.

"You really are a stubborn human," Metal pointed out.

"Just tell me why you're grumpy," Cheryl instructed. "Why are you so different from Sniper?"

Metal didn't like being compared to Sniper in that way.

"I know you say he's defective, but I know that you were once like him. Being defective can't have changed him _that _much," Cheryl continued.

"It's a long story…" Metal replied, admitting that once he was different.

"Can you tell me it in a shorter way?" Cheryl asked.

"…Alright…" Metal sighed. He then began his story. "You see, I was created to save the life of an evil scientist's daughter, which is why I had the healing powers. I got to name her. I named her Callie."

"You mentioned her before," Cheryl pointed out.

"I know I did," Metal responded. "However, when I was quite a joyful robot, I was forced to battle a hedgehog known as Sonic. A robot friend of mine warned me about that. At first I tried befriending him and his companions, but it didn't work out. I aged with Callie, becoming more snappy and battle-minded. Eventually I was allowed a break, but during that break our home in space was invaded. The friend who warned me about fighting Sonic was on GUN's side, and…" Metal cut himself off, clenching his fists as he remembered the moment.

Cheryl hugged Metal, which caused Metal to be surprised.

"I know how you feel, Mr Metal…" she sympathized. "You lost her like when I lost my parents."

Metal hugged her back slowly. "I suppose I did…" he said sadly.

"Maybe Callie's in heaven with my mummy and daddy?" Cheryl guessed.

"Maybe she is," Metal replied. "I hope she is, anyway… She was a very nice person… You would've been friends with her…"

"Metal… Can I stay in here tonight?" Cheryl asked. "To keep you company?"

"…If you want to," Metal answered, pulling away from the hug. "I'll go and get your sleeping bag." With that, Metal left to fetch Cheryl's sleeping bag. He shortly returned with it, laying it beside his.

Cheryl climbed into her sleeping bag, wiggling into it.

Metal tried to get into his as formally as he could, but he struggled.

"You have to wiggle," Cheryl informed.

Metal did as he was told, wiggling into it. It was so much easier.

"…Metal?" Cheryl said.

"Yes, Cheryl?" Metal replied.

"Tomorrow, can you fix Sniper's voice?" Cheryl requested. "I don't think he likes having no voice…"

"Alright…" Metal answered. "Just get some sleep for now. I think it's a little late."

"Good night, Metal," Cheryl whispered, falling asleep.

Metal would have smiled if he could. "Good night, Cheryl," he responded quietly before switching himself off for the night.

…

**It's slowly developing! And if I've done the 'How To Get Into A Sleeping Bag' wrong, forgive me! Okay, so Sniper's going to get his voice back because he's getting pissed without it. And I've also noticed the **_**'Transformers'**_** connections. Without his voice, Sniper seems like the Bumblebee from the movie, but when he has his voice, he seems like the Bumblebee from the **_**'Transformers Animated' **_**series. So, does this seem right? (If you haven't seen the animated series, look it up and see if you agree).**

**Metal – Ratchet **

**Cheryl – Sari Sumdac**

**Sniper – Bumblebee**

**EMMI – R.C**

**Silver – Prowl (not sure on that one)**

**Mephiles – Megatron (not sure on that one, either. He could be Shockwave)**

**That's all for now. I'll see you next chapter!**


	10. NEPS

**~NEPS~**

"Ouch!" Sniper yelped. "Watch it, that wire is sensitive!"

"Well, now your voice is fixed," Metal announced, throwing the screwdriver aside.

"Yeah, and in the process you jabbed my sensitive wire!" Sniper snapped.

"You could at least say 'thank you'," Metal stated.

"…Thanks," Sniper thanked.

EMMI then walked over to them. "Good morning," she said.

"Good morning," Metal replied.

"Yo," Sniper responded.

EMMI looked at Sniper, then looking at Metal. "Metal, I need to talk to you," she stated.

"About what?" Metal asked.

"Come on," EMMI replied, walking off.

Metal, confused, followed her.

"…You guys just gonna ditch me, then?" Sniper shouted to them, but they didn't respond.

…

"What do you need to talk to me about?" Metal asked.

"I was up late last night, doing some stuff on my advanced laptop," EMMI began. "I checked Sniper's current status for malfunctions et cetra…"

"How did you do that without him there?" Metal questioned.

"I was using my laptop from 200 years into the future," EMMI answered. "But that's not the point. I've got some bad news."

"What?" Metal asked, concerned.

"…Sniper's developed NEPS," EMMI revealed.

…

Cheryl was sat outside, getting some fresh air. She liked the view still.

Silver walked out of the mine, standing beside her, though she was sitting down. "I'm guessing you like the view?" he guessed.

"Yeah," Cheryl replied. "It's nice, and it reminds me of the jungle."

"Not many people seem to appreciate this world," Silver stated. "They just… ignore it."

"You come from a devastated future, don't you?" Cheryl asked.

Silver nodded. "Yeah… I do…"

"Is it because of that Iblis guy you keep mentioning?" Cheryl questioned.

Again, Silver nodded. "He _destroyed _my world. He also killed my parents…"

"…I'm sorry to hear that…" Cheryl reacted.

"It's fine," Silver responded, looking away. "The only real friend I had was EMMI, who became a hedgehog eventually. Blaze was just a robot copy of the princess in the Sol Dimension - an exact copy. She told me to destroy her."

"That's sad…" Cheryl confirmed.

Silver didn't respond, until he heard something. He looked up at the blue sky ahead of the two. There in the sky he sighted a hovercraft with about eight robots flying beside it. "Oh, no…" he gasped.

"What?" Cheryl asked, looking up. "Oh… This isn't good, is it?"

"No, it's not," Silver answered.

Sniper then ran out to see what was occurring. He hated being left out of conversations, so decided to try joining one. Unlike last time when he was younger aboard the ARK and he found Marilyn in hibernation. "Hey, guys, what's up?" he asked, but he didn't get a response. He looked up to see what they were gazing at, seeing the incoming attack. "Oh, crud…"

Silver turned to face Cheryl. "Cheryl, get inside," he commanded, then turning to Sniper. "Sniper, stay out here and help me fight."

"Roger that," Sniper replied, saluting.

"Wait, do you want me to get Metal and EMMI?" Cheryl asked.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Cherry, they're in a private conversation right now," Sniper warned.

"Ignore him, Cheryl," Silver stated. "Go and find them and get them out here – this fight might get ugly without them."

"Are you saying that fights are good looking?" Sniper asked. "I'm surprised you even got a girlfriend if you think that way."

"Not now, Sniper!" Silver snapped. "Cheryl, just go get the other two!"

Cheryl nodded, running back into the mine.

When the attackers were close, Sniper recognised the one in the hovercraft. "Eggman!" he exclaimed.

"Eggman?" Silver asked, but was caught off guard by one of the E-1000 series.

Sniper shot at it with his arm-laser. "Eat laser!" he exclaimed, until another E-1000 series shot him in the back with an even stronger, knocking him down.

…

"NEPS?" Metal asked. "Isn't that…?"

"None-Effective Programming Syndrome, yes," EMMI finished for him.

Metal looked frustrated and stressed, leaning his back against the dark grey wall (as they were in the mine shaft) as he put one hand on his forehead, looking down. "Is there anything we can do?" he asked.

"I've done all the research I can, but there's nothing. Not even in 200 years," EMMI answered sadly.

"What stage is he at?" Metal questioned.

"He's on the early phase of stage II," EMMI replied.

"If only we had noticed this sooner…" Metal sighed.

"There would be no differences," EMMI announced. "NEPS is incurable. It's a terminal illness for robots. It's very rare since all robots with programming errors are destroyed."

"But I didn't destroy him…" Metal added. "He's going to suffer now, isn't he?"

"Not for a long time," EMMI responded. "Just don't tell him about it yet. He's too young."

"I know he is," Metal acknowledged.

"You know what the side-effects for NEPS stage I and II are, right?" EMMI questioned.

"Aging personality, some powers and abilities disabled, completely different personality to the one the victim should have, able to feel pain more than other robots, isn't always accurate, frequent rests and disobedience," Metal counted.

"Many of those have already hit Sniper," EMMI stated. "Do you know what the stage III side-effects are?"

"All of the previous, suffers from internal pains, cries real tears, frequent malfunctions, short-tempered, suffers from paranoia and sometimes schizophrenia and sometimes hallucinates," Metal counted again. He then sighed. "What are we going to do…?" he asked.

"We'll have to wait and see," EMMI replied.

Cheryl was then heard running down the shaft as fast as her legs could carry her. EMMI and Metal looked in her direction.

"She looks like she's in trouble," EMMI stated. "Or something's in trouble, anyway."

Cheryl then reached them, panting breathlessly. "Guys… I need your help… There's an attack…!"

"An attack?" EMMI asked, confused. "Who by?"

"I don't know… But Silver and Sniper are holding them off…" Cheryl replied. "They need your help… Please… do hurry…!"

"We'll be right there," EMMI said to her. "You stay here, Cheryl. Metal and I will sort this out." The violet robot then flew out of the shaft.

Metal looked at Cheryl. "If anything happens, don't come out of your hiding place," he commanded. "You'll get hurt, and possibly killed."

"Okay, Metal," Cheryl responded. "But please, be careful. I don't want to lose you."

"I don't want to lose you, either," Metal replied. "Now stay here. Hopefully I'll be back. If anyone you don't know comes here, just run down the shaft and find a way out." Metal then took off at full speed, exiting the shaft and arriving at the fight scene.

Eggman laughed. "Well, if it isn't Metal Sonic," he chortled. "It's been a long time."

"If you want to destroy me, then you arrived at the wrong time," Metal stated. "I'm not ever going back with you."

"Destroy you?" Eggman asked, laughing again. "Why would I destroy you? I just want to give you another chance."

"Why would you give me another chance when I betrayed you…?" Metal asked, suspicious.

"Because you're my greatest creation, Metal," Eggman answered.

"You tried to kill Sniper," Metal reminded.

Eggman scowled. He didn't like Metal's interrogation, so without warning, tazed him.

"Metal!" Sniper yelled.

Metal growled as he was shocked, automatically shutting down.

Sniper fell to his brother's side, shaking him. "Metal, wake up!" he pleaded. "Come on, not now, bro!"

A beam then shone over everyone, making them all unable to move.

"What the…! I can't move!" Sniper yelped.

"Come on… psychic powers…" Silver said, but nothing happened.

Eggman chortled, teleporting them all back to the Death Egg before flying back himself.

…

Cheryl was sat waiting in the shaft. She heard nothing from nobody, so decided to see what was going on. Once she was outside, she was horrified to see that everyone was gone. However, one E-1000 robot grabbed her.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Cheryl begged, squirming.

The robot didn't bother responding, flying off after its master.

…

_**~NEPS Report~**_

NEPS is a terminal illness which defective robots can develop. The side-effects for all three stages are aging personality, disobedience, personality different to one given, able to feel pain in a more advanced manner, disabilities in some powers and isn't as accurate as other robots. The average age for a robot with NEPS to live up to is around 18 years. However, it can vary. Some robots may live longer, some may live shorter. NEPS goes up in 3 total stages.

**Stage I**

Aging Personality

A common side-effect of NEPS. Most robots don't age like organics in their mind. At stage I of NEPS robots usually act quite young. If they are 0, they may act like a 3 or 4 year old. Through the years as they approach stage II, they act more like their current age. If they are 6, they will act like they are 6. This stays the same at stage III.

Disabled Powers and Abilities

Another common side-effect. If a robot is built with powers and they develop NEPS, some of their powers can be disabled. For example, if a robot who had developed it was programmed to have laser eyes, speed and strength, it is a 97% chance that one or two of these powers will be disabled. If NEPS seriously hits a robot, it can disable most of their powers or all of their powers.

Personality Change

This side-effect stems off the aging personality. If one was to describe an evil robot's personality, it would be cruel, cold-hearted and merciless (since most robots are evil. If not, built for war). Another common personality for a robot is obedient, not free and accurate. However, if a robot with NEPS is supposed to have one of these personalities, it commonly changes. The robot usually has the complete opposite. So if they are meant to be cruel, evil and destructive, they change to being kind, good and caring. It can also lead to disobedience and independence.

Disobedience

Since the robot has defective programming, they will not obey their creator. This is because they do not follow their real programming, and most robots are programmed to serve their master. It is also because of their change in personality. Every robot with NEPS is disobedient, unless they are afraid of being hurt by the one they are serving and decide to do what doesn't hurt them.

Ability to Experience Pain

All NEPS victims suffer this aspect. Some advanced robots can feel pain in their own ways, but NEPS robots feel it like a living thing would do. It stays the same throughout all stages.

Accuracy

This side-effect isn't very common for NEPS victims. Robots are always accurate when aiming, locating and explaining. However, some NEPS victims are not. They usually round numbers up, so if someone asked where a certain place was, they'd usually answer with: "About three miles away". However, normal robots would answer with something around the lines of: "Three miles, thirty-six yards and 7.9 metres away."

**Stage II**

All of the above, but the signs are easier to spot, affecting the victim more. There is only one addition.

Frequent Rests

All NEPS robots start to want to rest frequently. If this is ever the case, no matter what the circumstance is, it is crucial to let them rest. If they are denied their rest, they can later faint or fall into a coma. They are more frequent when the victim is at a younger age, but are still frequent when they are older.

**Stage III**

All of the above, but with these additions.

Suffering from Internal Pains

All NEPS victims suffer from internal pains at some point during stage III. The pains get worse and the victim often cries and pleads for the pain to stop, not frightened to self-terminate itself. There is no way to make these pains stop. Only killing the robot would end their pain.

Crying Real Tears

Another aspect all NEPS victims develop during the third stage. Since the robot goes through a lot of pain, it is likely that they will cry. If a robot was to cry, it would be oil tears. However, NEPS victims have real tears.

Short-Tempered

A common effect of NEPS. The wrong thing said to a robot with NEPS during stage III can set them off into their angered stated. It can also cause them to become violent and hateful. If a robot with NEPS ever does start getting angry, do not interfere and let them have their own space as it is very difficult to calm them down.

Paranoia

Another very common side-effect. NEPS robots usually get worried by most things, so it is vital that again you don't say the wrong thing to them. When they are acting paranoid, again they can become violent. They are mostly paranoid when they are asked to go somewhere. They are also paranoid when they see others whispering to each other, when they are given something or if they are in a lab. There may be other trigger-points which personally affect the victim, which one must be careful of.

Schizophrenia

This can stem off from both short-temper and paranoia. One minute the victim can be happy, but one little thing might suddenly make them switch. Sometimes they can just flip without a reason, making them violent. They may even switch sides, from being good to evil or evil to good. It's best to keep away from a victim if they do switch.

Frequent Malfunctions

Although NEPS is considered as a malfunction in itself, it can cause the victim to have malfunctions frequently. There are many malfunctions, usually just being regular ones normal robots suffer from. These malfunctions can either be fixed manually or automatically.

Hallucinations

This is an uncommon effect. NEPS victims often complain about seeing things that aren't really there, or sometimes something transforms. They start to panic and the pressure can cause them to faint. It's best to let them rest if they are hallucinating to avoid causing them to panic and to let them refresh their minds before their mirages go too wild.

If you believe that a robot you know is developing NEPS, it is recommended you let the victim live to see the world rather than destroying them without giving them a long enough chance. However, it is rare for a robot to develop NEPS since most robots are built correctly, and ones who aren't are usually destroyed. Help us fight against destroying robots with NEPS in our 'Against NEPS Execution' campaign. If you would like to join, click here for more information.

…

**There's the next chapter! That last bit was a bonus. ****NONE OF IT IS TRUE! ****NEPS is a fictional illness I came up with, so don't try clicking the pretend link because you'll go nowhere. Anyway, at least things are kicking up a little! Also, I've already changed my mind about which Transformers the characters represent.**

**Cheryl – Arcee (Spelt her name as R.C before)**

**EMMI – Elita 1 **

**Anyway, that's the only change really. I might actually write a crossover fic! Then again, Mephiles wouldn't fit in because I have no actual clue who he represents. I think we should keep this between the robots and Cheryl. See you next chapter! **


	11. Reuniting

**~Reuniting~**

Metal awakened in the same prison cell he had been kept him before – two times had he been locked in there. Again his powers were disabled, as were EMMI's. Silver, however, just wore handcuffs which shocked him if he tried to use his powers. And by shocked, it really was a shock. More of an electrocution one would have in an electric chair.

Looking around, Metal noticed that Cheryl was in the cell, too. He walked over to her slowly, seeing that she was sitting in the corner with her face in her knees.

"…Cheryl," Metal began. "I… I am so sorry for getting you into this…"

"It's not your fault," Cheryl replied. "I didn't do what you told me to do. I went to see if you were okay…"

"In a way, you did the right thing…" Metal admitted. "I know how guilt feels… You think that you should do something… You think that you _can_ do something… But really, there's nothing you can do and you feel as if whatever happens is your own fault when really, it's not…"

"That's how you felt when Callie was killed by your friend," Cheryl stated. "But in the end, there is a way to settle it, right?"

"Sometimes," Metal answered. "And I promise, we'll be able to get out of here unharmed."

…

Sniper stood staring out of the window at the Earth in the grey, metallic hallway as Eggman stood behind him by a few feet.

"Metal Sniper, why are you staring at that planet?" Eggman asked.

"Because I like it," Sniper answered, turning to look at the round man. "And I told you, my name is just Sniper. Get it right."

Eggman held up a remote with a large red button on it.

"Sorry for the attitude, Master…" Sniper apologized, looking down as if ashamed of himself.

Eggman grinned, putting the remote away without needing to use it. "Now, Metal Sniper, bring me your brother and then guard the others within the cell," he commanded.

"Yes, Master…" Sniper said, walking off.

Eggman grinned, heading to his office.

Sniper turned around to see him walking in the opposite direction, sticking his middle finger up at him before heading in the direction he was initially heading in.

…

Metal heard the automatic doors open as light entered the dark room. He saw Sniper entering. "Sniper!" he exclaimed, almost sounding happy. He headed to the bars, clasping onto them. "You can get us out, Sniper!"

"No… I can't," Sniper replied, unlocking the cell door and dragging Metal out, locking the door again.

"Sniper, what is the meaning of this?" EMMI asked, walking over to the bars as close as she could, also clasping on as Metal had done.

Cheryl did what EMMI did, looking at Sniper sadly. "Sniper…" she sombrely said.

Sniper looked at Cheryl, sadness in his eyes.

Metal growled. "I knew you were working with Eggman this whole time! Everything was just an act, wasn't it? You faked everything!"

"No, I didn't, Metal…" Sniper replied, keeping a tight grip on him.

Metal glared at him, his irises blaring, until he noticed the shock collar around his neck. His expression seemed to change.

Sniper looked down sadly and shamefully. "Eggman's doing this to me… If I don't obey him, he'll electrocute me like when I was held captive by GUN…" he admitted. "And I can't leave the Death Egg while wearing it…"

"…Take me to Eggman, Sniper. I don't want you to get hurt," Metal stated. "I'll negotiate with him and ask him to remove the collar."

Sniper just nodded in agreement, taking Metal out of the room and closing the doors.

…

Sniper took Metal to Eggman's office, where Eggman was waiting.

"It's been a while, Metal Sonic," Eggman began.

Metal didn't respond, just giving off an angered glare instead. And that name… it _enraged _him.

Eggman decided to continue. "I know you've been hiding away from everyone for the past year up until recent events, but I've decided to give you another chance. You've had your time to cool off after your rebellion, so why not join my side again? You're my greatest creation, after all."

Metal wanted to keep Sniper safe from harm, so accepted the offer easily. "I will join with you again, doctor," he said, trying to sound calm. "But you must remove that collar from Sniper's neck at once."

Eggman pulled out a remote and pressed a button, the collar dropping off Sniper's neck in three parts.

Sniper rubbed his neck, loving the feeling of freedom. "Ahh… Sweet, sweet freedom…" he sighed in relief. "I hate those things – people just love to threaten me with them."

"Sniper, go and release the others from the cell, but bring the girl here," Eggman commanded.

"Wait, Cheryl?" Sniper asked.

"The human girl, Sniper. You will know her when you see her," Eggman sighed, face-palming.

Sniper just nodded, running off.

Metal watched his little brother leave, then turning to look at Eggman. "Don't harm her," he commanded, sounding almost angry. He then flew off to meet with his friends being released.

…

Sniper had opened the cell door, letting everyone out. "Cheryl, Eggman wants to see you," he informed.

"Me?" Cheryl asked. "But why?"

Sniper just shrugged.

"Fine… But don't let him hurt me, okay?" Cheryl clarified.

Metal, whom had just arrived, stopped by her side. "Don't worry, I told him not to harm you," he assured, continuing his walk to talk to the others.

Cheryl noted this in her head, then going off with Sniper to Eggman's office.

…

Sniper and Cheryl arrived at the office. "I think he wants to speak to you privately," Sniper stated. "So I'll stay out here and wait."

"Right…" Cheryl replied nervously. "I'll be seeing you, then…"

"Bye," Sniper waved casually.

Cheryl rolled her eyes, looking at the doors to the office before entering. When she entered, she found Eggman waiting for her.

"I'm guessing you're the one Sniper said was called 'Cheryl', correct?" Eggman asked.

"Yes, Cheryl is my name…" Cheryl replied shyly.

"Now don't try to fool me here. I know you're wearing my daughter's necklace. How did you get it?" Eggman interrogated.

"I got it with a letter…" Cheryl answered, her voice quiet. "I never met her or anything."

"Why would she give someone who she didn't even know a necklace?" Eggman quizzed, suspicious.

"I don't know!" Cheryl exclaimed. "The only one who would know is her! But she's dead!"

"I'm aware of my daughter being dead!" Eggman snapped, clearly angry. He then tried to calm down, taking in a deep breath before speaking again. "…If that's all you know, then you're allowed to leave."

Cheryl just nodded, leaving the room cautiously, where she was greeted by Sniper, who was just standing with his arms folded as he leaned against the wall.

"That was unusually quick," Sniper confirmed.

"I know," Cheryl agreed. "Should we go back to the others?"

"Yeah," Sniper agreed, deciding to run back with Cheryl.

…

"Well, so some things are back to the way they were before," EMMI clarified.

"Indeed they are," Metal agreed, looking around. He then looked at EMMI. "All we need now is a de-roboticized you."

"I'll do that later, not right now," EMMI laughed.

Sniper and Cheryl then returned. "Well, it's good to be a full house again," Sniper announced.

"We're not a full house," Metal corrected. "We're never going to be a full house."

"Oh… right…" Sniper remembered. "…But things are getting better, right?"

"A little," Metal replied.

Sniper nodded at the statement, not having much to say. However, he suddenly looked sleepy, as if he was about to collapse.

Metal was calm, jogging over to him and gently grabbing him, as if he was hugging him. "I've got you," he assured.

"Metal, I feel oddly sleepy…" Sniper described. "Can I sleep for a minute?"

"Take as much time as you need," Metal replied, lifting his brother up carefully. Sniper had fallen asleep in his arms. He turned to the group. "I'll just go and put him in his recharge chamber," he planned, carrying Sniper down the hallway.

…

Cynthia was sat crying on a hill under a tree. GUN had rejected her now that she was a demonic hedgehog. She hadn't even seen herself yet, not wanting to know what she looked like.

Mephiles appeared in front of her, having faded into view in his crystalline form.

Cynthia looked up from her hands, narrowing her eyes when she saw him. "I hate you for this!" she screamed. "Why have you done this to me!"

"So you can feel the agony which I suffered all those years ago," Mephiles answered.

Cynthia jumped up to her feet angrily, getting right in his face. "I will NEVER forgive you for this!" she hissed. "You should've just let me die!"

"Now, why would I let that happen?" Mephiles asked. "I wouldn't want you to have your way. I never do what my victim wants me to do. Until we meet again, Cynthia West." Mephiles then disappeared.

Cynthia collapsed back down to her knees, weeping into her hands again.

…

**I'll be moving onto 2005 next. Sorry about the wait, I was on holiday and I couldn't update since I didn't have my laptop with me or any computer to work on. Besides, I started this chapter before going away, and if I did have another computer/laptop, then there would've been no point in starting this chapter. Until next time! **


	12. Aliens

**~Aliens~**

_(Current Year: 2005)_

The group were hanging around in their mine. Metal had explained to Eggman about the rising of Iblis and why they all had to be on Earth until he did rise. In fact, even Eggman was on Earth somewhere. However, he wasn't near Metal and the others.

Cheryl, now nine years old, was running around outside. It was a lovely day. Sniper was with her, lying down in the grass as he stared up into the sky. Cheryl decided to be a little cheeky. She found a large, long-legged spider, picking it up carefully. She quietly tip-toed towards Sniper, then crouching down, allowing the spider to crawl onto Sniper. When Sniper saw the spider, he shuddered and shrieked. "Argh! Get it off me! Get it off me!" he squealed, jumping up and bouncing around, shaking himself. Cheryl laughed at him. Sniper looked annoyed, crossing his arms. "Not funny, Cheryl."

"It was funny," Cheryl corrected, smiling.

"Stop laughing!" Sniper demanded.

"I'm not laughing," Cheryl responded calmly.

"You're laughing inside," Sniper countered.

"How would you even know that?" Cheryl questioned.

"…I have X-ray vision," Sniper lied.

"Prove it," Cheryl responded, folding her arms, smiling smugly as if she knew Sniper couldn't prove it.

"…You have bones in your body," Sniper said creepily, doing some motions with his hands around his head as if he was doing something supernatural.

Cheryl just laughed again.

…

"I heard that the Black Comet is going to pass this planet this year," EMMI said to Silver.

"I've never seen it before," Silver replied.

"Maybe it's not passing yours in your lifetime yet," EMMI guessed.

"Maybe not," Silver acknowledged, nodding his head.

"We have business to take care of," Metal reminded them both.

"Watching a comet wouldn't kill anyone, would it?" Silver rhetorically asked.

"Yeah, it's just some old comet. It's not like it's gonna hurt anybody," EMMI agreed.

"Unless it's like the sign of an 'alien invasion'," Silver added as a joke, smiling cheekily.

Sniper and Cheryl then ran into the large empty room – which was still undecorated – where the others were all talking. "Guys, I think there might be an alien invasion," Sniper announced, looking wide-eyed but trying to keep his cool.

Metal, Silver and EMMI looked at him. There was an awkward silence. After that, there was a bellow of laughter.

"An alien invasion? Don't make me laugh, Sniper!" Silver laughed.

"No, really, there's an alien invasion!" Sniper repeated, trying to sound as convincing as he could.

"Sniper, we know you're a joker, and we're not fooled easily," Metal stated, looking as if he would have been smiling. Of course, he was also amused, but only chuckled rather than laugh.

"Metal, he's not joking, there really is an alien invasion," Cheryl confirmed, backing up Sniper's statement.

"Okay, let's just settle this," EMMI interrupted, trying to calm down from laughing. "Let's go outside and see if there really is an invasion."

"If there is, Metal owes me 200 rings," Sniper clarified, running outside, being followed by his 'pack'.

Arriving outside, everyone's expression turned to being shocked when they saw the dark purple sky and the large swirling vortex within it. The vortex was very far away, above Westopolis.

"…Well, this is… new," EMMI announced.

"No shit, Sherlock," Sniper responded.

EMMI lightly whacked his head, not hard enough to hurt him much. "Watch your language, Sniper," she warned.

"Sorry, it was just the right time to say it," Sniper grumbled.

"You two should stop fighting. This could be when Iblis rises," Metal reminded.

"That's a point. Look around you, guys. Doesn't this look like the time Iblis might rise?" Silver asked, gesturing around.

"It seems possible," EMMI agreed. "Let's take a look around – away from the cities."

So the five decided to look away from the city first. Volcanoes were the easy answer, but of course, they had Metal with them. Metal hated lava, let alone volcanoes.

However, while walking, Metal could feel a dark disturbance. He stopped in his tracks, causing everyone else to stop and look back at him.

"Metal, what's the matter?" Silver asked.

Metal just clenched his metallic fists, his irises brightening. That was when he heard that voice.

"Hello, Metal."

Metal growled, turning around and seeing Mephiles in his hedgehog form. He charged at him, stopping mere inches away from his face. "You again…" he growled. "Just as a year has gone by you decide to show up again…"

Mephiles could only laugh. "Is it too late to wish you a happy new year?" he asked

Metal clasped his throat with one hand tightly, attempting to choke him. "Get the hell away from me… The next time I see you you'll be brutally murdered. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!" Metal bellowed, sounding threatening.

Mephiles didn't even bother reacting. He was just amused by Metal's anger. "You're not a threat to me, Metal Sonic," he revealed.

Metal hissed at him angrily. He still despised that name. The more he heard it, the more it annoyed him.

"Look who it is," a female voice said.

Metal looked, seeing a grey hedgehog with lime green eyes wearing a black sari. Her hair was black and tied back in a ponytail. Metal recognised the voice. "Cynthia?"

Cynthia looked at him. "That fiend did this to me," she explained simply. She held up the Sceptre of Darkness. "It's time to finish this."

Metal threw Mephiles to Cynthia's feet. "Take him. Kill him, if you must. See if I care," he said.

Mephiles just clicked his fingers, making a purple portal, floating up into it and closing it before anyone could follow him.

"Damnit," Cynthia growled, making her own portal and disappearing.

Silver stood by Metal's side. "That guy is your sworn enemy, isn't he?" he guessed.

Metal just turned around and continued walking. "Come on. Let's just find this Iblis thing. No doubt this is the time he rises."

"Well, if I recall correctly, I think the story of Iblis' rising was that a dark Mobian figure wanted revenge and attacked while nobody was expecting it," EMMI recalled.

"So it won't rise now?" Metal asked.

"I don't think so," EMMI replied.

"Then let's get back to the Death Egg for safety," Metal said. "This alien attack will probably be stopped."

"Wait, I remember now!" Silver announced. "This is the attack by Black Doom and it is stopped by a hedgehog known as Shadow!"

"Shadow…" Metal muttered to himself. "…Let's just go."

The group returned to a spacecraft they had landed in. Because of Cheryl, EMMI and Silver flying through space wasn't the best idea. So they all returned to the Death Egg for safety, but they weren't going to relax. They were going to research.

…

**Okay, I got stuck there! I tend to struggle with the adaptions. And there are still new villains coming in – one coming very soon! And I'm surprised none of you have thought that when Mephiles decided to convert Cynthia to a demonic hedgehog, he was saving her life because deep, deep down he still cared about her. And if I was to say which was my favourite part about chapter, it would be this part:**

"**Unless it's like the sign of an 'alien invasion'," Silver added as a joke, smiling cheekily.**

**Sniper and Cheryl then ran into the large empty room – which was still undecorated – where the others were all talking. "Guys, I think there might be an alien invasion," Sniper announced, looking wide-eyed but trying to keep his cool.**

**XD Wouldn't you agree? Come on, SOMEONE'S gotta agree! See you soon!**


	13. Attempts

**~Attempts ~**

"So, the doctor is dealing with an alien attack that might end the world, what do we do?" EMMI asked.

"Help?" Silver suggested. "After all, our time could be destroyed."

"Don't worry, I actually researched this attack. None of us are mentioned, just Shadow the Hedgehog. This attack was shortly forgotten," EMMI assured.

"Well then, to avoid any of us being destroyed or killed, I suggest we just sit back and find something to pass the however-long time," Metal suggested.

"Like what, just sit here?" Silver asked rhetorically.

"That's fine by me," Metal answered.

"It was a rhetorical question," Silver growled, frowning.

"And I gave you a rhetorical answer," Metal responded smugly.

"Guys, honestly, you sound like squabbling little children," EMMI admitted.

"He's fourteen, of course he's going to squabble," Metal countered.

"Metal, if you were living actual years and aging properly, you'd only be fifteen," EMMI corrected.

"But I don't age," Metal calmly replied. "Robots of my kind are born at an age."

"You're a guardian robot who behaved like a child a few years ago," EMMI reminded.

"And then I became a dangerous fighter robot," Metal added.

"Wait, I age normally," Sniper interrupted, putting up his hand like a student would do in class.

Metal and EMMI looked at him. At first there was silence, before Metal decided to speak. "…You're a little different from my design, Sniper," he lied. "Only a little."

"Right, whatever," Sniper mumbled, rolling his pixelated eyes. "Well, I'm off to find my ant-farm. Hey, Cheryl, wanna see my ants?"

"Okay," Cheryl replied, shrugging. The two then ran off.

EMMI sighed, looking at Metal. "One day we need to tell him," she repeated.

"I know, just stop reminding me, okay?" Metal commanded. "I've already got enough on my mind."

"I know you do," EMMI acknowledged. "But if he ever notices something wrong with him, then we will _have_ to tell him."

"EMMI, enough," Metal commanded. "Go de-roboticize yourself or something." He then decided to walk away.

…

"So you've named each and every ant?" Cheryl asked.

"Yup~!" Sniper replied happily.

"How do you keep track of them all?" Cheryl questioned, fascinated.

"I'm a robot. We can identify things automatically," Sniper answered.

"Amazing…" Cheryl gasped, staring at the ants in the ant-farm. "So, which one's which?"

Sniper began pointing them out for her. "This is Jim, this is Jack, this is Sparta, this is Mack, Gary Larry Jerry Barry Harry Dari Perry and Tarry. Next there's Bill, there's Will, there's Jill, then there's Olli then Polly and Holly. Here we have Annie, Fannie, Manny and Danny, and here we have Ella, Bella, Stella and Cruella. There we have Dane, Jane, Wayne and Kane, and over there there's Millie, Tillie, Billy and Willy. If you look down here there's Charlie, Marley, Carly and Darley then there's Harley next to Gnarly and Snarly. Oh, there is Damy, Amy and Jamie. Be careful, these three can be happy and snappy. And last, here we have the royals. Princess Ellie, Prince Krillin, and then there's the queen named Marilyn."

"Never knew you were such a good poet," Cheryl chuckled.

"I only just realised that," Sniper noticed, also laughing a little. "I might write that down. I could publish my own poetry book~!"

"The first robot to write poetry like Shakespeare," Cheryl joked.

"Yay! I can be famous!" Sniper laughed, pretending to cheer successfully.

"Do you know anymore poems?" Cheryl asked.

"I might be able to come up with some right now," Sniper responded, thinking for a moment. It then hit is mind as he attempted to click his fingers. "I've got one! Listen to this," he coughed, though he didn't need to, as he stood formally. "There once was a 'bot named Metal, who was often mistaken for a kettle, he was out in the night, with very little light, and found he was stung by a nettle!"

Cheryl clapped. "That was good!" she cheered. "But I thought robots didn't get hurt like us humans."

"I do," Sniper shrugged. "Alright, now you come up with one."

"Me? No, I'm not good…" Cheryl replied shyly.

"C'mon, give it a shot!" Sniper encouraged.

"Okay, here it goes…" Cheryl announced, clearing her throat. "There once was a 'bot named Sniper, who dreamed of wearing a diaper. He woke in the night, and drank litres of Sprite, and shortly the pop sent him hyper!"

"For a first timer, that was brilliant!" Sniper praised, applauding her. "You could be the reincarnation of Shakespeare! Though I don't drink Sprite."

"I bet EMMI does," Cheryl giggled.

"Maybe," Sniper agreed, nodding.

…

EMMI stepped into the de-roboticizer. Silver was at the control panel.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Silver asked.

"Silver, you should know me by now. Because of my abilities I can de-roboticize myself, so I'll be fine," EMMI explained.

"I was only making sure," Silver stated.

"Just flip the switch," EMMI commanded, sighing but smiling at the same time.

"Alright, here it goes…" Silver uttered, pulling the switch downwards.

At first the roboticizer had to power up, but after it began the process, EMMI began whirring and gave off a few sparks of electricity as she collapsed, growling rather than screaming.

Silver began to panic, quickly, flipping the switch upwards to stop the process, then allowing the glass to lift. He ran to EMMI's side, crouching down as he tried to help her up. "EMMI, are you alright?" he asked, sounding worried and concerned.

"I'm… I'm fine…" EMMI responded, staggering back to her feet and regaining balance.

"Are you sure?" Silver questioned, holding her arm to assure she was balancing correctly.

"I'm sure!" EMMI snapped, pulling her arm away from him. She didn't know what caused her to click like that, as her expression became surprised. Silver's expression seemed surprised, too. "…Sorry," EMMI apologized, leaving the room via the automatic doors hurriedly, looking frustrated.

…

Mephiles observed what was going on through EMMI's eyes, chuckling evilly to himself. He was enlightened by the fact that EMMI couldn't be de-roboticized, all because of his doing. The artificial hedgehog then decided to get some rest.

…

**Sorry it's been so long! Microsoft Office was being a bitch and I was working on my 'Sonic OVA 2: Shard's Adventure' story! Plus I've been planning my story for FictionPress. I'm not sure if I should call it 'Cyber's Family' or 'Cyber's Home'. A name that means something. Anyway I'm working on the cover for that one, and it's going to be fairly similar to my 'Rage Against the Machine' Fanfic and my 'When Worlds Collide' Fanfic. I might also be re-writing 'Rage Against the Machine', but it would be pointless. Again, I apologize for the wait and the short chapter, but this is all I could do for now. I would have done it longer if I didn't have a bitchy Microsoft Office program. Anyways, see you next chapter! Which will HOPEFULLY be soon! :D**


	14. Techno

**~Techno~**

EMMI was walking around the Death Egg aimlessly, looking at her hands. "Why… Why can't I de-roboticize myself…?" she asked herself in a worried tone of voice. "I've not changed, have I…? What's happening to me…?"

…

While EMMI was walking around, the others were all resting. Most were resting peacefully, Metal being in his recharge chamber in his room. However, he was having nightmares worse than he had ever had before.

…

_(Metal's nightmare)_

"Metal!" Sniper cried painfully, as if he was in agony. He was lying on the ground, holding where his stomach would be and cringing. There were no visible injuries on him. Metal was panicking and was also horrified as he knelt beside Sniper, holding him in his arms.

"Sniper… please… everything's going to be alright…" he assured, trying to sound calm.

Sniper looked up at him as real tears poured from his screen-covered eyes. He was crying. "Make it stop… Please, brother, make it stop!" he begged.

Metal was unsure of what to do as he just held onto him tightly. When he looked up, he saw a black and yellow version of himself looking down at him. Not doing anything, just standing there, staring.

"Tell me I can help him…" Metal could only say, sadness in his vocal tone.

The black and yellow hedgebot did not respond.

Metal just hugged Sniper, resting his head on his shoulder.

Sniper cried even more, pain overtaking him. "Make it stop! Make it stop! Please! It hurts so much!"

"Sniper… I can't…" Metal replied quietly and sadly. He knew that Sniper was in the third stage of NEPS.

"Metal… Please…" Sniper pleaded. "I can't take it anymore! There's too much pain! Make it stop!"

A tear of oil left Metal's eye. "I don't want to lose you…"

Suddenly, Sniper jumped to his feet, looking fine. He lunged at the other Metal and got into a ferocious fight with him. However, the fight ended quickly with the black and yellow robot throwing Sniper down into the large pit behind him. It turned out that they were by a volcano.

"No!" Metal bellowed, looking over the edge. He saw Sniper struggling to get out of the lava. Metal was horrified, but jumped down and hung off the edge by one hand, using the other to try and grab Sniper. "Grab my hand!" he shouted.

Sniper tried to crawl up the side of the volcano, reaching for Metal's hand. He almost had it…

…

_(Real World)_

Metal was awakened by something disturbing him, looking around quickly. Standing in front of him was EMMI.

"Oh… It's only you…" Metal said, sounding relieved.

EMMI didn't respond. She just stood there, staring at him vacantly.

Metal tilted his head to the side slightly. "EMMI? Are you alright?" he asked.

Again, the violet hedgebot did not respond. Instead, she whipped out her arm-laser and aimed at him.

Metal jumped right out of his open recharge chamber, managing to avoid the first shot she fired. "What the hell, EMMI!" he shouted. "If this is your attempt at a joke then it's not working!"

EMMI fired at him again. Metal managed to dive out of the way again. "EMMI, if you want me to destroy you, I gladly will!" Metal warned.

"Target must be destroyed!" EMMI said emotionlessly, firing at him again.

Metal decided to fly out of his room to avoid any of his stuff being damaged. After all, it was the stuff Callie gave him…

…

"Sniper! Sniper, wake up!" Cheryl whispered, knocking on the glass of his recharge chamber.

"Ugh…" Sniper groaned, twitching slightly as he began to wake up.

Cheryl opened up his recharge chamber, then tugging his arm. "Now would be nice!" she demanded.

"Five more minutes…" Sniper grunted, pulling his arm away.

Cheryl then pulled him out of the capsule, causing him to fall onto the floor and wake up suddenly, orange irises coming to life as he sprung to his feet in a karate position, looking around for a threat. When he saw Cheryl, he almost hit her by accident, but managed to regain his relaxed posture.

"What do you want?" Sniper asked, not sounding too happy with being awakened so suddenly.

"I think Metal's in trouble!" Cheryl replied, sounding worried.

"He can save himself," Sniper assured, sounding okay with the fact Metal was in danger.

"Sniper, he's your brother! You should be helping him!" Cheryl reminded. "I'll help you as well since Metal is one of the best friends I ever had."

Sniper sighed in defeat. "Fine…" he agreed. "Let's go, even though you just woke me up from my awesome dream of awesomeness…"

…

_(Sniper's Dream)_

Sniper was standing wearing some armour while holding a sword. Behind him were three hundred giant ants wearing the same thing. In front of him was Mephiles, with a large pit behind him which seemingly had no bottom to it.

"This is blasphemy! This is madness!" Mephiles shouted at Sniper, but was pointing to one of the ants when he shouted 'This is madness'.

"…Madness?" Sniper responded, turning to the ant before bellowing a large and loud yell at the dark hedgehog. "THIS IS SPARTA!" He then kicked Mephiles down the hole.

That's what happens when you call Sniper's ants the wrong name.

…

_(Real World)_

"Sniper! Snap out of it!" Cheryl commanded.

"Sorry," Sniper apologized, shaking his head quickly.

Cheryl just ran ahead, causing Sniper to follow. Once they had found Metal, they were surprised to see that EMMI was his attacker.

"EMMI, what are you doing!" Cheryl yelled at her.

EMMI glared at them angrily, gritting her teeth. She aimed at Cheryl, but Metal tackled her to the ground. "Don't you dare!" he shouted angrily.

"You will be destroyed!" she repeated, still without emotion.

Silver then entered the room hurriedly, seeing EMMI about to attack Metal again, quickly using his powers to restrain her. "What's just caused her to do this?" he asked Metal.

"I would tell you if I knew," Metal replied simply.

EMMI's circuits then started to fry slightly due to the way Silver was using his power, so he let her go in a panic, not wanting to hurt her.

"…Why did you just do that?" Metal asked.

"I was going to kill her! I don't want to hurt EMMI too much…" Silver answered.

EMMI then growled, flying towards them. As the three got ready to fight – Cheryl hiding behind Sniper for protection – someone tackled EMMI down. A robot, to be exact. It looked a little bit like Silver Sonic II, only his eyes were black with red irises in the shape of diamonds. He wore a black cape, also wearing black shoes, and he had a small metal quiff on his head. Everyone kept cautious upon seeing him, having their guard up in case he was a foe.

"Target: EMMI. Abbreviation for: Eggman's Mechanical Manufactured Intelligence," the hedgebot said robotically. Unlike the other robots like Metal, Sniper and EMMI etc., he just spoke blandly.

Metal decided to speak up. "Who are you?" he asked.

The robot just aimed his built-in machine gun at him, his irises turning orange.

Metal charged lightning up with his hands, ready for any hostility.

"My scanners show that you are a friend of EMMI," the robot stated, still sounding emotionless.

"Is that meant to mean I am your enemy?" Metal interrogated.

"It means you are not my enemy," the robot answered, his irises going back to being red as he transformed his machine gun back into his arm, then looking at EMMI and shutting her down before standing up.

"Who are you?" Metal asked again, lowering his arms and discharging his energy.

"I am Techno-Matter, I am from the future," he replied.

Silver looked a little surprised. "Techno-Matter?" he repeated. "You… what the…" He seemed lost for words.

EMMI managed to silently reboot herself, since she couldn't be shut down properly due to her little 'malfunction' she had during the process of being created. She looked at Silver seeing him looking confused and stuttering. "…Have I missed something?" she asked.

Metal and the others looked at her, not even knowing how to answer.

Techno looked down at her, his facial expression showing… nothing.

Silver ran over and helped her up after regaining himself. "Are you okay? What's the last thing you remember?" he asked.

"…Going inside my capsule?" EMMI responded as if it was obvious. "Then somehow I ended up on the floor."

"You became a psycho! You were all like 'Grrrr!' and then you were like 'Pew! Pew!' and then finally you were like 'Urggghhh…' – taken out my Mr Awesome here!" Sniper said, doing the actions for what he described.

"I am Techno-Matter," Techno reminded.

EMMI looked back once she had got to her feet, seeing Techno-Matter. She looked surprised. "What the heck… you're… you're alive and…" she looked as if she was about to fain, but EMMI is the kind of person who doesn't faint easily. "Look at yourself… you're a… you're a… a robot!"

"As are you," Techno added.

"Can someone explain what the hell is going on here?" Metal requested.

…

**All this time and this happens! And before you say it, Techno is NOT a Silver Sonic II re-colour! My friend designed him and when he saw Silver Sonic II he gasped and said: "Oh my god Techno-Matter looks just like that but with…" and then the description. Anyway, he said I could use him in this. I might buy Techno from him, actually! XD Anyway, I will see you next chapter! Soon we'll be on Sonic Rivals!**


	15. Capture

**~Capture~**

"So you attack me, everyone starts panicking, then you're taken down by this guy here," Metal recapped, gesturing to Techno-Matter, who was just standing there.

"I am Techno-Matter," Techno repeated.

Metal sighed, face-palming. "EMMI, could you please explain who the hell this guy is?" he requested, sounding tired and bored.

EMMI sighed. "Quite a while ago, when I first went to the future, I met Techno-Matter. He was a hedgehog," she began. "We… well… I guess you could say we started to like each other a little."

"I thought you had always liked Silver," Metal pointed out, a little suspicious.

"The first time I told you that was technically a lie," EMMI admitted. "I was making it up since at the time I was unsure whether to trust you or not."

"Even though we were made by the same creator," Metal added, folding his arms. He wasn't convinced.

"Hey, you know how it is. If I'm helping the good guys, whether it is in any time, then the enemies of them aren't ones to trust easily," EMMI explained.

"Even though they are practically related to you," Metal ended, still not convinced and getting bored.

EMMI sighed. "This really isn't the time for this, Metal," she stated, trying to end the subject. "What I'm more interested in is how Techno is alive and also why I went "psycho" earlier."

"I am theoretically not alive," Techno corrected. "Robots have no true life within them, only data."

Metal heard Techno say that. The sentence made him feel rather uncomfortable; as he was a robot himself, he had always wanted to believe that he was more than what he seemed.

EMMI turned to Techno, not as offended by the statement as Metal was. "Techno, how are you alive?" she questioned. "When you suddenly disappeared I… I was devastated… We all thought you were dead…"

"By 'all 'you mean yourself, Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat?" Techno asked.

"Yes," EMMI answered.

Silver clenched his fists as if angry. "Blaze wasn't the real Blaze…" he growled, trying to restrain his anger. "She was an android created by Nega… Just a camera…"

"Your emotions show you are regretful," Techno noticed.

Silver glared at Techno angrily.

EMMI looked at Techno sadly, letting out a saddened sigh. "You've changed…" she announced. "You used to be such a happy-go-lucky, nerd of technology kind of guy. What happened to you? Tell us!"

Techno turned his head to face EMMI. He had no expression, unlike the other robots such as Metal and Sniper. All he had was pure blankness. "I was upgraded," he revealed.

"_Upgraded?"_ EMMI reacted, gasping in horror as she said it as she took a sudden step back. "Who did this to you, Techno!"

"Doctor Ivo Robotnik captured me when I was sent to the past as an experiment conducted by Doctor Eggman Nega," Techno explained heartlessly. "My finished product was not what Robotnik wanted, so he locked me in a capsule until he had plans for me. I outwitted his technology and managed to escape the capsule, locating you aboard the Death Egg and not Robotnik."

"So you're still able to outsmart technology," EMMI laughed. "At least that's one thing that hasn't changed."

Techno was about to respond with another logical point about himself, but noticed movement in the shadows. His red irises went orange as he aimed his machine gun again. This caused the group by him to sharply turn their heads to where he was aiming, until those same green irises were seen emerging from the darkness. Metal was the most annoyed out of everyone else.

"EMMI… I think I know what made you turn against us so suddenly…" Metal lowly growled, his blaring red irises locked on the one and only Mephiles the Dark.

Mephiles let out his usual chortle. "Quite intelligent for a machine, I must say," he admitted, pacing a little closer.

Metal stepped back, getting into a fighting stance. "Cynthia didn't manage to catch you yet, I notice," he stated, almost trying to taunt Mephiles since he said the word 'yet'. "But that's besides the subject. You're the one who brought EMMI back as your robotic pawn, AREN'T YOU!"

The sudden shout at the end of Metal's sentence startled Cheryl, causing her to wince slightly. The others comforted her.

Metal marched directly towards Mephiles quickly to show dominance. "Tell me why you are here!" he demanded, eye-to-eye with the corrupted experiment.

"Merely as a warning," Mephiles replied simply, unfazed by Metal's intimidation.

"A warning for what, exactly?" Metal interrogated.

Mephiles just walked backwards back into the shadows as he remained with his eyes locked with Metal's.

Once Mephiles had somehow disappeared from sight, Metal was about to dart into the shadows after him, but suddenly felt another tazer. The voltage made his mind go glitchy as his system began to malfunction, his eyes wandering all over. He fell backwards onto his engine as consciousness faded away from him, last hearing Cheryl shouting his name in an echo as if she was panicking.

"Metal!"

…

_(Metal's Dream)_

_(Cue music: watch?v=If04AnC_OjU)_

Metal was sat beside Callie on the moon, a wonderful view of the Earth in front of them.

"Metal, you don't look so good. Is something bothering you?" Callie asked, turning to face her robotic friend.

Metal looked at her, then back at the Earth. "I don't know what I am anymore, Callie," he admitted. "Now I feel… lost – I feel like I have no purpose. What am I supposed to do?"

Callie put a hand on his shoulder as she looked at him. "Be yourself, Metal. You still have people who count on you, and I'll always be by your side."

Metal placed his hand on hers, feeling how real she felt. "Callie…" he said solemnly.

…

_(Reality)_

The blue hedgebot sat himself up groggily, feeling as if he had been hit by a truck. His optical sensors weren't operating properly for a moment, but pixel by pixel he began to see in his usual red colour again. He didn't like where he was.

Instantly he knew he was being held in some kind of cell. The walls were a plain dark metal colour, indeed being very dull. The door was strong glass instead of bars. The centre of the room was empty, still the same dark, dull metallic colour. Every wall had a cell, most being empty. However, the ones beside Metal were definitely taken. All cells seemed to light the room, and they were very bright, which Metal had discovered already.

Metal slowly and steadily walked over to the glass, trying to see who had brought him here and why.

"Ah, he's finally awake," a very familiar voice began as an echo from somewhere. Metal immediately knew that it had to be Doctor Eggman. But why would Eggman be doing this to him?

Metal's glass cell door then slowly rose up. Metal backed off, suspicious and cautious. He then noticed someone walking towards him from the right, who looked very much like Eggman. The only changes were: the long white moustache, the futuristic goggles on his head, pointed glasses, a slightly pointier nose and black and yellow uniform.

Walking soon after this man was a girl who shared a resemblance with Callie, which made Metal feel a sad emotion inside him again, but also an angered one. However, this girl had white hair and had a less innocent look on her face, her eyes being smaller. Her iris colour was brown and her skin colour was the same as the other man's – pale. Also, unlike Maria and Callie, this girl wasn't wearing a sweet-looking dress. She wore a black jacket with yellow stripes down the side and a black al-in-one underneath, also with strips on the side. She wore black boots which again had yellow stripes on the side. The last one made Metal worry the most for many reasons.

The final one to enter was robotic hedgehog which had the exact shape Metal did, being even more alike than Sniper's design. His irises were still the same red with the same black voids as their holders. However, this version of Metal was black with three yellow stripes going down his head, yellow stripes on his other quills and a red chest engine and back engine. His shoes were also black and yellow. The hedgebot glared at Metal as it walked in as Metal stared right back, not liking the look of this one. He stood by the girl's side silently.

Metal decided to draw his attention back to the Eggman look-alike, which he now knew had a slightly higher voice than Eggman's. "Who are you…?" he asked, attempting to intimidate him. However, his attempt failed as the scientist before him chuckled. "Metal Sonic 3.0, Alice, bring him to the other room. I'm sure he'll do as he's told once we're in there," he stated, walking through the heavy iron black door.

The girl and the hedgebot both walked over and grabbed him by the arms, pulling him along as they ignored his attempts at resistance.

"Let go of me!" Metal demanded angrily as he thrashed and strained. Something worried him now – was this an alternate universe? Just what was going on here?

The two both pushed him through another heavy door into a slightly darker room still with the same colour scheme, only it was smaller and more filled with tools and devices. Metal fell to the ground as the door was closed, making the room darker. Looking up to see in front of him, he saw a petrified Metal Sniper sat in a chair, linked up to some wires.

"Sniper!" Metal bellowed, horrified to see his younger brother in peril.

Sniper looked at him as he lightly trembled. "Metal…" he responded.

_**...**_

**Sonic Rivals has finally begun! As you can see three new characters are in, and we all know that this Eggman is Eggman Nega. What's going to happen to Sniper, though? More importantly, why does Nega want Metal? And Metal 3.0 obviously has more to him than just obedience if Metal dreamt about him being a threat.**

**Also, theme songs!**

**Metal Sonic – Firestarter by The Prodigy**

**Metal Sniper – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger/Around the World (Live) by Daft Punk**

**Cheryl Rayne – Kids in America by Kim Wilde**

**EMMI – Every Time We Touch by Cascada **

**Silver the Hedgehog – Take On Me by a-ha**

**Techno-Matter – When Worlds Collide by Powerman 5000**

**Cynthia West – Haunted by Evanescence**

**Mephiles the Dark – Darkness Incarnate by Cradle of Filth**

**Metal Sonic 3.0 – Black and Yellow by Wiz Khalifa**

**Alice Nega – Womanizer by Britney Spears**

**Callie Robotnik – My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion**

**Yes, EMMI's got a girly theme this time! She had a tomboy side and a girly side! Well, that's the list. Good? Bad? Somewhere in between? Oh well, the chapter's done and I'm gonna keep going! See you next chappie! **


	16. Persuasion

**~Persuasion~**

Metal glanced over at this "other Eggman", angered to see his brother threatened. "What do you want from me!" he demanded to know. "Why have you brought me here and what have you done to my friends!"

"If you had turned around when you were leaving that room, you would have seen them all in an individual soundproof cell like the one you were in," the white-moustached Eggman answered. "And if you really want to know who I am, I am Doctor Eggman Nega, and I have brought you here for my own reason."

'_Eggman Nega…' _Metal thought. He then looked over to Metal Sonic 3.0, who was standing statue-still with his arms folded by Alice's side. "And what is that thing right there?" he questioned.

"My greatest creation, Metal Sonic 3.0," Eggman Nega responded, putting his hands on his creation's shoulder pads. The black and yellow hedgebot stayed completely motionless as he stared at Metal with his cold expression. "You see, I was seeing what robot designs my ancestor had came up with, and you happened to be one of them, Metal Sonic."

"Ancestor?" Metal reacted with confusion, tilting his head slightly. "Isn't the year 2005?"

"2005?" Nega laughed menacingly. "It's 2214!"

This startled Metal. He wasn't in an alternate universe; he was in the future.

Nega then stepped back from his metallic hedgehog. "Once I saw your design I decided to recreate it, along with making a few adjustments."

"I can guess that you took away my healing features," Metal guessed.

"Wrong," Nega announced. "I upgraded the battle techniques and added in some new abilities. Currently I'm working on his flight – he needs to be able to fly at a speed higher than yours without burning up."

"So why am I here?" Metal interrogated, getting tired of waiting for a direct answer.

"I am going to go back in time to 2006 where I can frame my ancestor," Nega explained. "With you it would be much more believable."

"You can't make me work with you!" Metal exclaimed straight after Nega had finished speaking.

Nega sniggered. "We'll see about that," he replied, walking over to a panel on a wall with a red handled lever. It was an on and off switch. Nega pulled it down so it was on, and then grinned as he turned to Sniper who was sat wired up in the chair.

Electricity then suddenly whizzed through Sniper's circuits, causing him to let out an agonized and altered scream. He tensed and jerked, trying to get out of the straps holding his arms to the chair and squirm from the wires.

Metal's red irises flared angrily as he shot his head towards Eggman Nega, horrified and enraged. "Stop it! Leave him out of this!" he demanded, trying to run over to Nega. However, Metal 3.0 grabbed him quickly, preventing him from approaching the mad scientist. Metal wriggled to try and get out of his grip as Nega pushed the lever back up so it was off. The blue hedgebot narrowed his eyes at him.

"All you have to do is simple, Metal Sonic," Nega assured, grinning as he paced a little closer to Metal, who was still in the tight grasp of his futuristic counterpart. "Just let me reprogram you and your brother will be unharmed."

Metal felt as if he had no choice as he gazed at the ground, trying to get his thoughts in place. He lost focus when he heard Sniper shout.

"Forget about me, Metal, don't let me get in your way!" he exclaimed. "He'll permanently use you as his slave and ruin the course of time!"

"Sniper… I won't let you get hurt…" Metal responded.

"Have you even told him why he gets hurt so easily?" Nega asked, grinning.

Metal gave him a death glare, not even bothering to reply to that.

Nega chortled.

Sniper looked at Metal with a confused, concerned and worried look. "Metal, what is he talking about?" he asked.

"This isn't the right time!" Metal snapped as an instant reaction, looking away so he wasn't giving Sniper any eye-contact.

Nega, without warning, electrocuted Sniper again, Sniper's bloodcurdling screams filling the room for the second time. He fell loose and weak once the voltage was shut off.

"Give up, Metal, otherwise Sniper will go through more pain than just electrocution!" Nega confirmed.

"Metal… Please…" Sniper wavered. "Let him kill me… But before he does… Tell me why I feel pain more than you do…"

"You're not going to die!" Metal finalized angrily, denying the thought that his brother was close to being killed. "You don't need to know!"

"Yes, he does," Nega corrected, reaching for the switch again. "Tell him, Metal Sonic. Tell him why he's not like any of you."

Metal looked down, having no choice. He took a few seconds to respond, not even knowing how to put the sentence so it wasn't so harmful.

"Sniper… ever since the day you were activated…" Metal began slowly, trying to be short and simple to get it over with. "You… you had the rare virus robots get…"

"What rare virus?" Sniper questioned, eyes widening. He managed to look at him weakly.

Again Metal took a few seconds before his answer. "Recently EMMI had discovered your diagnosis and…" he stopped for a moment, deciding to give his little brother eye-contact before the final announcement. "You… you have NEPS…"

Sniper was unsure of how to react. "Isn't that…?" he could only say, unable to even speak anymore.

"It's incurable…" Metal answered to his half-asked questioned. "Nowadays it is classed as rare since all robots with it are destroyed… Currently you are only at the second stage… but soon…" He decided to end his sentence there, feeling that anymore words would upset and panic Sniper.

Sniper looked down, horrified. "…The third stage is the final stage, isn't it…?" he asked quietly.

"…Yes," Metal responded, also quiet.

"And by then, I'll…" Sniper continued, trailing off.

"I'm sorry," Metal muffled. "I wish there was something I could've done…"

"It's not your fault…" Sniper assured, his voice barely there. "I should be the sorry one… I should have let you melt me down…"

"Sniper… I promise… We'll figure something out…" Metal promised. "You may have nine years to live to reach the average age, but… there might still be a chance…"

"Never make a promise which you can't keep…" Sniper responded.

Nega laughed evilly again, causing Metal to look at him, but not Sniper.

"Make your final choice now, Metal Sonic," Nega commanded, smirking. "Or else you can say goodbye to your brother!"

Metal hung his head. "I… I give up…" he revealed.

Nega grinned. "I knew you would give in," he predicted. "Metal Sonic 3.0, take him to the robotics lab!"

Metal 3.0 just marched out with Metal, taking him out of the room.

Nega then approached Sniper, standing in front of him. Sniper remained with his head down.

"As for you, little one…" Nega began, turning to Alice. "Alice, take him to the research lab. Perhaps he could be of use."

"Yes, father," Alice replied, unplugging the wires from Sniper and freeing his arms from the straps. She had to lift him up because he was too weak to move on his own right now, carrying him out. Thankfully he was quite light.

Nega then left the room, heading to the robotics lab.

…

Metal 3.0 disabled all of Metal's movement while Metal was lying on the work surface. He then stood back and waited for his master to enter.

Metal was very cautious of this robot, considering he saw him in his nightmare. The thing about the volcano… could that be true too?

Nega then entered the room, heading over to Metal. "Well, let's just get down to reprogramming you," he said, strolling over. Metal watched him, not saying anything. Nega then got to work while Metal was still active, but at a certain point Metal automatically shut down.

…

Sniper was placed in a glass capsule inside research lab (near the centre of the room by a control panel), which had brighter walls and lots of technology. He was sat down leaning against the glass while inside of it, still feeling weak.

Alice was about to leave the room before Sniper spoke, causing her to stop.

"Is Cheryl okay…?" he asked her, his head hung.

It took Alice a few seconds to answer, but she did. "If you're talking about the human girl, she's fine."

"You're not going to hurt her… are you?" Sniper questioned, looking up at Alice.

"So far, no," Alice responded.

"Then let her go… Please…" Sniper begged.

"I'm not the boss around here," Alice stated. "My father is."

Sniper fell silent again as Alice left the room. "Cheryl…" he said to himself quietly. However, he heard the door open again, causing him to look up. He saw a robot looking just like him but black, a mouth, red irises and yellow streaks like Metal Sonic 3.0. His belt was also black with a yellow stripe going around in the middle with a silver belt buckle. Sniper gasped.

…

**Done with this chapter! Newcomer seen and you'll probably guess the name within a flash. Well, next chapter we will see how the others will react to Metal's newer self, and we'll see if Sniper will return to his happy state. Then again, if someone told me I had a fatal disease of some sort I would be traumatized… Tata for now!**


	17. Reprogrammed

**~Reprogrammed~**

Sniper watched as this other version of himself entered, managing to weakly get back on his feet.

The other robot walked over to the capsule, looking at Sniper as Sniper looked back at him. He didn't really do anything else other than stare curiously.

Sniper then decided to speak. "Let me guess… you're Metal Sniper 3.0," he guessed.

"I used to be," the other replied. "I renamed myself for independence. Now I am called Bolt."

"I can understand why you renamed yourself," Sniper acknowledged. "My brother hates being called Metal Sonic because it reminds him that he is just a copy. That's why we all just call him Metal."

Bolt walked over to a control panel, about to press a green button.

Sniper was cautious. "What are you doing…?" he asked, trying not to show that he was worried.

"Releasing you," Bolt replied, pressing the button. The glass lowered, and Sniper stumbled out, his balance uneasy. Bolt quickly ran over and helped him up.

"Thanks…" Sniper thanked, accepting his counterpart's help. He then looked at him, Bolt returning the gaze. Why was he helping him?

"Come on, you need repairing," Bolt pointed out, leading Sniper to a repair table. He lied him down and got to work. There were a few minutes of silence, before Sniper finally ended it.

"Why are you helping me?" he finally decided to ask.

"Because I'm friendly," Bolt answered simply as he worked. "You're friendly too, aren't you?"

"I… I guess you could say that," Sniper admitted.

"I saw you getting hurt out there," Bolt informed.

Sniper looked at him. "You use the term hurt when you refer to robots getting damaged?" he asked, confused.

"No," Bolt replied. "I know robots like you feel pain, that's all."

As if on cue, Sniper yelped. "Ouch! Damnit, that arm always hurts when I'm getting repaired!"

"Sorry," Bolt apologized, finishing repairing his arm. "I didn't realise that repairs could hurt you."

"It's fine," Sniper assured. "Certain spots hurt badly when they're being repaired, and one of them is this arm."

There was another silence, before Sniper filled it again. "So if you're my copy, does that mean that Metal Sonic 3.0 is your brother?" he questioned.

"Yeah, he's my brother," Bolt replied, still focusing on repairing Sniper, being careful to not hurt him.

"Is he like my brother?" Sniper asked.

"I don't know, what's your brother like?" Bolt responded.

"He used to be quite a nice guy," Sniper described, remembering Metal before his worst nightmare came to life. "Apparently he was much nicer before I was created – he wasn't even built to fight."

"Neither was my brother," Bolt compared. "He was just built as a servant at first, but now he's being upgraded into a fighter robot."

"Very much like what happened to my brother," Sniper stated. "He was built to save my creator's daughter's life, but he ended up having to become the enemy of a blue hedgehog named Sonic."

"Was he scared?" Bolt asked curiously.

"At first, yeah, he was scared," Sniper answered. "But now he doesn't fear anything. He lost the friend he was created to save; even since he has been an angry hedgebot. I think he's cheering up a bit, though."

"I wonder what my brother would do if he lost Alice…" Bolt wondered to himself, before he had finally finished repairing Sniper. "Done!"

Sniper sat up. "Thanks," he thanked.

"No problem," Bolt accepted. "I should keep you hidden in case my master sees you."

"Damnit, hiding from another Eggman…" Sniper told himself, standing up.

…

Metal had awakened after being reprogrammed, sitting himself up. He slowly scanned his surroundings, then turning his attention to Eggman Nega.

"Ah, you're awake," Nega observed.

Metal just looked at him blankly.

"Okay then, Metal Sonic, while I get my disguise ready, you can go and watch the prisoners which are now being held in the lower jail room," Nega commanded.

Metal nodded, getting up to his feet and walking out of the room. Walking the opposite way to him was Metal 3.0. Despite being reprogrammed, Metal 3.0 was still a curiosity to the titanium hedgehog, so he looked at him as he walked past. Metal Sonic 3.0 returned the look as he walked past, until both robots faced forwards to get on with their task.

…

Every one of Metal's 'friends' were each in a new individual cell in a dark room, behind bars. They were very low within the base, and there was no sound around them unless any of them spoke.

"I hope Metal and Sniper are okay…" Cheryl hoped quietly. Nobody heard her say that.

"Guys, I know this might be the right time, but when we get out of here, I'm reconstructing myself," EMMI announced.

"What do you mean?" Silver asked, curious.

"I mean that I'm redesigning my body," EMMI answered. "I look too much like Metal's counterpart."

"Right," Silver nodded, acknowledging her point.

The doors of the prison room then opened, and in entered Metal. Everyone turned to look in his direction.

"Metal! You're okay!" Cheryl chirped happily.

Metal just glared at her.

"…Metal?" Cheryl responded, tilting her head in confusion.

_Cheryl Rayne_

_Prisoner #1_

_Objective – Guard Prisoners_

_Confirmed_

EMMI looked at Metal, realising that something wasn't right. "Nega's done something to him," she clarified.

"He has been reprogrammed," Techno-Matter announced without emotion. "He now mindlessly serves Doctor Eggman Nega."

"No…" Cheryl gasped, horrified.

"Don't worry, Cheryl, we'll get him back, somehow," EMMI assured confidently.

Metal just watched them all, not listening to what they were saying. However, he was soon shut down.

The ones in the cells remained confused, until seeing Sniper and Bolt standing by the fallen Metal.

"Sniper?" Silver asked.

"In the metal!" Sniper responded proudly.

"Sniper, who the heck is that?" EMMI asked, her eyes on Bolt.

"Oh, him? That's Bolt," Sniper answered. "In other music, Metal Sniper 3.0."

"Oh god, there's two of them," Silver reacted, his eyes shrinking.

The two 'young' robots started laughing, before Sniper spoke.

"Okay, we're just gonna get you outta here."

However, Metal had rebooted suddenly, grabbing them both by the ankles and pulling them over to the ground. He stood up and dragged them both to a cell, throwing them inside. Once they were in, he locked the door and continued with his duty.

"Damnit, bro…" Sniper sighed sadly.

…

**Poor Metal… Well, we're gonna keep on going! Oh, and Bolt has a theme song.**

**Bolt – Get Lucky by Daft Punk ft. Pharrell **

**Since I have no idea what else to say, I'll just pretend that the 'cast' of the story has read this chapter and have a reacted.**

**Metal: I barely did anything. Thank you so much for considering me since I am the main character of this story. **

**Sniper: Woohoo! Someone who actually likes me in this story! I have a friend! …Wait, is Metal trying to steal Cheryl? Am I the only one who's noticed that! Hey! That's not fair! It's my turn to pwn Twilight! :(**

**EMMI: At last, that means I no longer have a masculine figure when I'm a hedgehog. I just realised how much my name stands out in paragraphs.**

**Techno-Matter: One response: I am in this chapter.**

**Silver: Am I even an importance to this story anymore? Or am I just a side-character? Seriously! Get me back in there! I'm relevant, too!**

**Cheryl: I hope Metal turns back to normal soon.**

**Bolt: It's my first chapter! Yay! And I even get a theme song!**

**Metal Sonic 3.0: …**

**Mephiles: Get me back in the story. Now. Or else I'll break my foot – oh. **

**Heh heh. I get bored so easily. **


	18. Amnesia

**~Amnesia~**

That night, everyone was sleeping in their cells. Metal was keeping a watchful eye on everyone as if he was a hawk. One sign of movement always caught his attention.

Silver was facing the wall as he lied on his camp bed, his eyes open. He couldn't sleep.

…

"Well, Silver always has been a problem to you, so I agree with your idea," Alice stated, agreeing with her father's plan.

"Get Metal Sonic 3.0 to bring the hedgehog to the lab – if this invention works then I truly am a genius!" Nega commanded, laughing afterwards.

"I'll go and get him, father," Alice replied, leaving the computer room. She headed down the metallic corridors, approaching a room which had a door needing to be opened by a numbered code on a panel. Alice entered the code, 2236, and the chrome metal door slide to the right quickly. Alice entered the room.

Metal Sonic 3.0 was just facing a wall at the back of the room. The walls of this room were still metallic, but more of a dark yellow colour. The metal ground was a dark grey, and there was a large computer screen. The rest of the room just had storage in – old pieces of technology.

Alice walked towards Metal 3.0 cautiously, a little confused on why he was just staring at a wall. She smiled to reassure herself, picking up her walking pace and stopping about three feet behind him. "Hey, Metal 3.0," she greeted, sounding hopeful that he'd respond.

The black and yellow version of Metal didn't even look at her. He just stayed completely still, as if he was a stone statue.

The white-haired look-alike of Callie and Maria sighed almost silently. "My father wants you to bring Silver to the lab so he can test his new invention on him," she continued, trying to make it sound like it was something Metal 3.0 liked to do.

Metal Sonic 3.0 turned his head halfway, as if looking to his right, but letting his eyes lock on her. He always had such an intimidating look on his face.

"Is something bothering you?" Alice asked him, leaning a little closer to try and see what kind of expression he had on his face, even though it barely ever changed.

Metal 3.0 looked at her, then turning around and heading out. This caused Alice to sigh as she also left, heading back to her father.

…

Metal was still watching the cells, hearing the tinny footsteps of Metal Sonic 3.0 as he entered the dim room. He glanced at him as if he was greeting him, then turning his attention back on the prisoners. He then noticed his black and yellow twin approaching the cell containing Silver. Metal was curious, but let Metal 3.0 open the cell.

Silver quickly turned over, seeing Metal Sonic 3.0 approaching him. He sat up immediately, instantly knowing that something wasn't right. The future-Metal grabbed Silver by his arm, pulling him to his feet harshly.

"What are you doing!" Silver demanded, panicking a little. He tried to use his telekinesis, but he was wearing restrainers on both his wrists to prevent him from using them. He tried to resist a little more, but was not successful.

EMMI had awakened, hearing Silver's growls and grunts as he tried to escape Metal 3.0, who was now marching him out of the room. "Silver!" she cried, clasping the bars of the cell.

Metal stared at her with his blaring scarlet irises, walking over in an intimidating manner. Once he was too close for comfort, he stopped, still with his eyes locked on her. This showed that he wanted her to back away from the bars and go back to resting.

"Metal, please, you have to stop him! Silver's your friend – _I'm _your friend! Please!" EMMI pleaded desperately, trying to get through to Metal.

Metal, swift and sudden, punched her hard in the face, cracking her eye shields a little bit and knocking her back, away from the bars.

EMMI pressed her hands against her damaged eyes, feeling the pain. She then managed to look up again at Metal, horror painted all over her face. "Metal… Why…?" she asked.

Metal didn't respond, but was on the point of entering the cell. Before he even considered that, he heard Sniper shouting at him.

"Oy! Mindless one!" the young hedgebot called out as a distraction.

The blue robotic Sonic turned his head at a quick speed, shooting his intimidating glare towards his little brother.

"You dropped your gay card!" Sniper taunted, laughing a little.

Bolt turned to him with a rather shocked and frightened expression. "What are you doing? He's going to kill you now!" he whispered quite loudly.

"Relax, my own brother won't kill me," Sniper assured calmly, until the cell door was opened and he was dragged out of it, being shoved forwards and almost to the ground. Metal, obviously the one who had shoved him, locked the door of his cell again so Bolt didn't escape.

Sniper laughed nervously, backing off from his big brother, who was now approaching him and looked ready for a fight. "H-Hey, come on, bro, you know I was only messin' with you, right?" he asked.

Metal did not respond as he continued to approach, irises glowing for a moment. He backed Sniper up into the dark-coloured wall.

Sniper slid down the wall until he was sitting down, trying to shield himself as he shook a little. "Metal, it's me, your brother…!" he reminded fearfully. "C'mon, I know you remember me! Remember when I accidentally gave you an idea for destroying the world as everyone knows it?"

The blue hedgebot ignored him. As far as he was concerned this robot was an annoyance who tried to make a mockery of him, also being a prisoner who needed to be taught a lesson. So he repeatedly punched Sniper, beating him mercilessly. EMMI and Bolt were watching helplessly, flinching each time Sniper was hit as they sympathised his pain.

Cheryl was awakened, hearing Sniper being beaten, running over to the bars. She was horrified to see Metal being so cruel and emotionless. "Metal, stop!" she exclaimed.

Metal heard the new voice. He dropped Sniper to the ground and walked over to where he heard it, stopping in front of Cheryl's cell. Metal recognised that she was a young girl, and knew that young girls were usually powerless compared to killer robots. So he stared at her, wanting to show who had the advantage and also wanting to frighten her. However, Cheryl was trying to show no fear at all. This angered Metal. Cheryl began to speak in a calm and relaxed tone, unlike EMMI, who had a desperate and emotional tone.

"Metal, please, leave Sniper alone," she began. "You may not be able to recognise this now, but he's your brother. He looks up to you for protection and looks up to you as an idol."

"That's a lie!" Sniper corrected from where he was, but both Cheryl and Metal ignored him as Cheryl continued.

"If you want to beat someone up, then take me instead. Just don't hurt Sniper – he's your friend and he's…" She got stuck on what to say after that, before thinking of something as she looked over at Sniper. "…the best friend I'll ever have. Maybe more."

Metal was not touched by any of Cheryl's words, about to walk back over to Sniper, but Cheryl reached her arm through the bars quickly and grabbed him by his arm. Metal glared at her with rage, rather angered that someone he tried to intimidate had just made physical contact with him.

"Don't hurt him anymore, Metal," Cheryl begged, calm but getting a little more emotional as tears began to form in her eyes. "Hurt me, not him."

Metal considered her request, about to open the cell door once she had let go of his arm, but didn't. He saw the necklace around her neck. Metal then backed away from the bars and approached Sniper again, lifting him up and pushing him back into his cell, locking the door. Bolt caught Sniper before he stumbled over, walking him over to the poor-quality bed and sitting him down.

"I'll sleep on the floor this time," Bolt assured.

"Right…" Sniper responded, lying down.

As for EMMI and Cheryl, they also lied down on their "beds" to stop Metal from bugging them as Bolt lied on the floor.

Metal returned to his duty, watching them as he stood completely still.

…

Metal 3.0 was holding Silver still before Eggman Nega.

Nega wore an evil smirk. "Finally, I have you at my mercy, hedgehog," he began menacingly.

Silver gave off a death stare at him.

"With my new invention I will wipe you off all your memories!" Nega announced, laughing.

Silver tried to get away from Metal 3.0.

Eggman Nega then put a helmet-shaped device on Silver's head, switching it on.

Silver growled, trying to shake it off. The mad scientist then pressed a button on a remote, causing Silver to scream as his memories were being wiped.

…

EMMI could hear Silver's scream as she awakened, gasping. "Silver!" she cried, jumping to her feet instantly.

Metal narrowed his eyes at her angrily.

…

Silver was soon unconscious. Eggman Nega snickered, taking the device off his head and putting it down with the remote. "It worked! It actually worked!" he cheered successfully. "Get rid of him, Metal Sonic 3.0 – but don't kill him."

Metal 3.0 nodded, flying out with Silver. He dumped him far away before returning.

…

**Ended the chapter so soon, I know! Anyway, I've not updated in a while since I was concluding my 'Sonic OVA 2: Shard's Adventure' story, which will have a sequel eventually. I will probably start working on it when I work on the third installation for this series. As for Silver, oh dear. He just got his memories wiped. He might remember a few things, though.**

**And I find doing these reviews quite fun XD It helps me develop each character's personality in the story.**

**Metal: …At least I'm not dressed up like a fairy princess.**

**Silver: A chapter practically based around me? I regret saying you kicked me out of the story now…**

**Sniper: Hey! Seriously! Stop bullying me! All I wanted to do was OWN Twilight's love story, then you go ahead and make Metal beat me up! I want a friend now… I want a hug… Hugs please? … :( **

**Cheryl: Poor Sniper… I hope he's okay…**

**EMMI: No, not Silver! You can't do that! **

**Techno-Matter: Am I not mentioned in this chapter?**

**Bolt: I guess I have more common sense the Sniper does. **

**Metal 3.0: …**

**Well, I'll see you all next chapter, hopefully!**

**P.S: Give Sniper a hug because I'm too busy. No hugs makes him feel lonely.**


	19. Consciousness

**~Consciousness~**

_(Current Year: 2006/2214)_

Metal 3.0 had switched places with Metal for now. Metal had gone off to do some training before went up against his rival while Metal 3.0 was guarding the prisoners. He glared at Bolt angrily.

Bolt noticed his brother's stare, looking down shamefully.

Sniper, having been fully repaired, sighed. "Today's my tenth birthday…" he told himself quietly.

The black and yellow-striped hedgebot looked over to at him, both robots sitting on the poor bed. "It is?" he asked, sounding surprised.

Sniper nodded sadly. "And my brother isn't even here to say anything. I miss the old times…"

"My big brother is ashamed of me now…" Bolt admitted quietly. "I'm a failure…"

"At least you're not gonna die of NEPS when you're older…" Sniper sighed. "I'm kinda scared about the third stage…"

"Is there no way to stop it?" Bolt questioned.

"No…" Sniper answered sadly. "Only hybrid robots can survive it…" That's when an idea hit his mind. "Of course… Hey, EMMI!"

EMMI looked over to him, but Metal 3.0 approached the cell door, glaring at the two robots angrily. Both robot boys chuckled nervously, Bolt having a nervous smile to go with it.

Metal 3.0 continued his glare before being called out.

"Metal Sonic version 3.0! I need you up here at once!" Nega's voice could be heard yelling through a communicator within Metal 3.0. Of course, the robot obeyed his master and just left the room.

Once the servant robot had left the room, Sniper turned his attention back to EMMI. "Yo, EMMI! I think I may have discovered a cure for my NEPS!" Sniper told her, whispering loudly yet excitably.

"Sniper, there is no cure for it. Every robot knows that…" EMMI sighed sadly. She was also a little tired of having to remind him, since after he discovered it he asked weird questions which just sounded… insane.

"No, this one will be good! I promise!" Sniper assured, sounding desperate to tell her.

EMMI let out a sigh again. "Alright, but it better not be another bizarre one…" she gave in, almost bracing for the "impact".

"Okay, so you know how things in the future aren't set in stone, right?" Sniper asked, speaking hurriedly. "Well, I was thinking, I could change the whole idea of "no cure for over two hundred years". You see, y'know how you're a hybrid robot thingy? And y'know how you have NEPS but it doesn't affect you _because _you're a hybrid robot thingy? Well, why don't you find a way to turn _me _into a robot like you?"

"I don't know, Sniper, it's easier said than done," EMMI responded, not so sure on his idea.

"C'mon, EMs, just copy your ability programming into mine and then try and cause the malfunction to happen!" Sniper convinced.

"Sniper, it doesn't work like that," EMMI reminded, a little frustrated and tired. "I was created with those abilities and a malfunction happened as I was being created. Malfunctions can't just to be made deliberately in these kinds of situations. Besides, you've already been created."

"There must be some other way to make me a hybrid… thing," Sniper replied, still determined to commence with the plan.

"You could get some organic DNA in your system, but that might be risky," EMMI explained. "It's never been done before, and it's not easy to get it inside you properly. Besides, what organic do we have to give you a DNA sample?"

"Me," Cheryl said from her cell. "I'm the only one left in this team now that Silver's gone."

"Silver will be back," EMMI countered. "But still, Cheryl, it's too risky to try this with Sniper. It could destroy him or make his NEPS worse."

"We've got to try," Cheryl argued, also determined. "I want to help Sniper; he's my friend! I will do anything to try getting him better, even if it means getting me hurt or even killed! The last thing I want to see is Sniper dead because of this terminal disease!"

"Robots do not catch organic diseases," Techno could be heard emotionlessly saying from his cell. "Robots catch viruses, glitches and malfunctions. Metal Sniper has None-Effective Programming Syndrome, classed as a virus."

There was a silence after he spoke, since nobody really knew how to respond to a robot like him.

EMMI then filled the silence by sighing again. "Fine… Once we can get out of here with Metal, we'll try out this cure. If it doesn't work… we'll find out what to do after the outcome."

…

Metal was watching as Metal 3.0 got upgraded by Nega and Alice. Everything was quiet (besides the sound of tinkering with Metal 3.0's body) until Nega looked at Metal and gave him a command.

"Metal, go and watch the prisoners!" he ordered.

The blue robot just nodded, leaving the room and entering the prison room, where his ex-friends – excluding Bolt – were being held. They were all silent when he entered, and there was nothing to be noted for a while as he watched them.

…

_(Metal's Sub-Consciousness)_

Metal, no longer a mindless machine, was walking around the Death Egg. Usually when he entered there now he felt sorrow, discomfort, horror and anger all course through his body, but for some reason now he felt like he belonged again. Like he was still loyal to Eggman like a son. Eggman… He felt as if he wanted to call him Ivo like he used to in the past. He also felt as if no tragedies had happened. GUN didn't invade, he didn't try and take over the world, Mephiles didn't bother him… It was all a feeling of being free.

The robotic speedster continued his little stroll, wandering around as if looking for something. He didn't know how long he was wandering for, realising that the place was oddly quiet. But that's when he heard someone calling from behind.

"_Metal? Metal, is that you?" _

Metal recognised the voice, turning around. "Callie?" he asked, his joy building up.

The brown haired human stood quite a distance behind him. She smiled upon seeing him.

Metal was speechless. He then ran up to Callie happily, giving her a tight hug once reaching her. Tears of oil rolled down his metallic cheeks. "Callie… You feel so real… It's almost like I'm here with you…" he muffled as he softly cried. Unlike before when he visualised sitting on the moon talking to her, he felt softer, while before he felt like his present self – as hard as a nail.

Callie hugged him back, also glad to see him and also comforting him. "You are here with me, Mets…" she assured soothingly.

"Why did you leave me…?" Metal asked, looking up at her with his green irises.

"I never left you," Callie replied. "I've always been there for you."

"But I watched you die right in front of me. Mecha shot you dead mercilessly before my very eyes," Metal recalled, seeing the image in front of himself. "It happened right here aboard the Death Egg. Well, I suppose this is the Ghost Death Egg…"

Callie giggled. "The place I asked Maria about, yes," she added. "But I had no idea that it lived inside others."

"What do you mean?" Metal asked.

"It means that right now we're inside you," Callie announced.

"Inside me?" Metal asked. "No… Shouldn't I be… destroyed?"

"No, silly," Callie laughed, smiling warmly. "I wasn't dead when I visited the Ghost ARK."

"But that wasn't your home," Metal reminded. "This is your home… and it's mine…"

"You're here in your sub-conscious state," Callie explained. "You see, I think you may have been reprogrammed."

Metal remembered this. "Eggman Nega!" he exclaimed. "No! How long have I been here for?"

"Not long," Callie answered. "You see, at first you must have been in the body of your reprogrammed self as you slowly faded away. Once you completely fade away, then you appear here until someone returns you to normal."

"…So how long have I been reprogrammed for?" Metal questioned.

"I'd say about a year," Callie estimated. "And today is Sniper's tenth birthday. I wish I could wish him happy birthday, but I can't because… well… I'm here…"

"A year…?" Metal reacted, sounding horrified. He looked horrified, too. "No! Something would have happened by now!"

"Don't worry, I can see what's happening," Callie confirmed. "Nothing has happened to any of our friends, and your new ones. Although, a while back Silver got wiped of his memories and tossed out…"

"Damnit!" Metal rasped angrily. "They're all going to be ashamed of me… They won't want to bring me back now…"

"They will, Metal, they're your friends," Callie reminded.

"But if they do turn me back to normal… What will happen to you?" Metal asked, sounding worried.

"I'll be fine, Mets. Don't worry about me," Callie responded, smiling reassuringly.

Metal then hugged Callie tightly again. "But I want to stay with you…"

Callie rubbed his metallic head, tears in her own eyes. "I know, Metal," she whispered. "But you've got to get back to Sniper and EMMI and the rest of your friends. It's up to you to stop Mephiles when they awaken the real you again. Just remember that I'm always going to be here. Always."

…

**I'll end this chapter here. Sorry, originally this was going to be Nega preparing Metal to do his race in Sonic Rivals, but since I've not updated in a while and I will not do so for about a week or more, here it is. Reactions, please?**

**Metal: At last. The real me. …Wait, that's what I'd be like if I hadn't fought Sonic in the first place! Author! Stop making me look like such a coward!**

**Cheryl: It looks as if I'm going to help Sniper get better. I'm glad.**

**Sniper: WOO! I'm gonna get cured! :D**

**Techno-Matter: I said a sentence in this chapter. **

**EMMI: Poor Silver… I miss him already… …Hey, had anyone else noticed that the only one of us using text-faces is Sniper?**

**Bolt: *Sighs* Why is my big brother so different to me?**

**Silver: COME ON! **

**Mephiles: Awaiting my return, I see. Well then, I hope that return shall be soon. Very soon indeed.**

**Metal 3.0: …**

…**Okay! Good enough. I should just stop getting Metal 3.0 to respond because… well… he doesn't even respond. **

**Sniper: *Hugs Purest of Hearts back happily* Yay! I have a friend! :D**

…**Right… Okay then… Sniper's happy now.**

**Metal: That picture… Is that… ME?! Hey! You! Pure Heart person! Why do you have a picture of me fighting… Who is that!**

**Bolt: Is that me? Or is that my brother?**

**Metal: …Wait a minute, that's the future me which is all hyper and insane! HEY! Why is there a picture of me fighting myself! WHICH IS THE REAL ME!**

**I think I'll leave things there for now. Bye for now, readers! And hopefully Sniper will let go of Purest of Hearts before the next chapter.**

**Sniper: *Not letting go* :D**


	20. Rivalry

**~Rivalry~**

The blue hedgebot was in the Sky Park Zone, waiting to challenge his upcoming rival, which he knew was Sonic. That's what Nega told him, anyway.

Metal then noticed that Sonic had beaten Shadow at a race. Now it was his turn to race Sonic. If he was in his normal state he probably would've backed out, but due to his current setting, he could do no such thing. His new programming was so different to his previous one that he didn't even manage to recall the events which happened all those years ago when he first encountered Sonic.

"How do you feel about trying out your skills against my lovely Metal Sonic?" Nega had asked the blue bur, disguised as his ancestor. Metal didn't really notice the change in his looks.

"Wh-What? Metal Sonic!" Sonic reacted to Nega's question.

"Come forth, Metal Sonic! Show this pathetic hedgehog what you're capable of!" Nega commanded.

Metal stepped out, noticing Sonic's surprised expression. He paid no attention to it, getting ready for a race.

"Now, Sonic, let's see if you really are the fastest thing in the world, shall we?" Nega snickered before laughing Eggman's laugh.

Sonic revved up as the countdown started, as did Metal. When the countdown was over, the two were off! Sonic went flying ahead, the place in flames in the background. He ran over the blocks and jumped, striking down Egg Pawns and keeping ahead of his duplicate.

Metal began catching up with the hedgehog, no memories sparking whatsoever. He went through a speed-booster, then going past a loop, finally going down a zip-line. He was catching up quickly.

The blur was still determined to keep ahead of the eviller version of himself. He ran up the highest point of the roller coaster, then speeding back down. Behind him he could hear Metal gaining on him.

Metal caught up with Sonic and jumped onto his head before taking the lead, seeing that he had slowed Sonic down and caused him to lose some of his rings. Now he was determined to keep ahead. He _will _win!

However, Metal's path was blocked by a box. He pushed it with much strength, until feeling Sonic jump on his head, causing him to lose his own rings. The two began a small fight as they each tried succeeding in pushing the box, until Sonic had managed to push it into the gap in the ground, running over it. Metal was right behind him yet again.

Again, there was another zip-line to go down, Sonic going down first. Metal was still a short distance behind him, boosting and using a catapult to fling him to the higher part of the coaster.

The highest point possible now. Both blue ones were rushing down it, and even worse: it was a spiral. They ran down the spiralling track, fighting the urge to not knock each other over since it would slow them down. Metal managed to take lead, boosting ahead on the tracks, leaving Sonic in the dust.

Metal could shortly see the finish line. For once he was going to win, until suddenly…

Thud!

He had been knocked down again by Sonic, buzzing angrily, watching as Sonic claimed the victory for himself.

…

While everything was going on, Metal Sonic 3.0 was guarding the prisoners. His own brother was one of those prisoners, but he didn't even seem to care. As the room was silent, he heard Alice enter, turning around to face her.

"Metal Sonic's been defeated," the white-haired girl informed. "I'm going to bring him back here. Keep watching those guys."

Metal 3.0 nodded, turning back around and keeping his sharp eyes on every cell.

Alice then left the room via the automatic doors, heading to the Sky Park where Metal was waiting.

Sniper didn't like what he had just heard about Metal being defeated, hoping that he was okay.

EMMI was still bothered about Silver. She sighed sadly, missing his company. The violet hedgebot was hoping that her chrome friend wasn't dead or hurt anywhere.

Bolt remained with his head down, sad. He didn't know what Nega would do to him once he was done with his attempt at world domination, nor did he want to find out.

…

That last hit which Sonic inflicted on Metal's head seemed to… knock something into his mind. He was… thinking. _'I… I can think again…' _Metal thought. In front of him he could see a transparent Callie with her hand extended to him, almost like an offering to help him up. She smiled at him warmly.

Metal wasn't so sure whether to take her hand or not, but in the end, he did. Not even an organic being could feel her hand, but it was there, in a way. Callie pulled him up to his feet before speaking to him.

"Good luck, my friend…" she whispered, her voice angelic and ghostly at the same time as she faded away.

Metal just bleeped sadly. He realised that he wasn't talking, looking quite horrified. Metal then let out a loud, dramatic buzz, which echoed and droned for a short while, but when Metal had fallen silent, he saw Alice approaching him. His first instinct was to threaten her or attack her, but recalled every moment during his other setting. His friends were being held as prisoners. However, Alice and the others working for Nega still thought that he was their mindless slave, and as long as they thought that, Metal was technically on their side. He would act mindless and do as he was told, but when they least expect it, he would strike and free the others.

"Come with me, Metal Sonic," Alice commanded.

Metal just nodded once, doing his best to act like he was still mindless.

Alice walked off, expecting Metal to follow her, which of course, he did.

…

Sniper, who was sat with his head down originally, looked up with a face of attempted confidence. "I'm getting us outta here," he finalized with determination, his voice quiet.

Bolt looked at him with a both questioning and horrified look. "No, you'll only get yourself hurt!" the black and yellow 'bot confirmed, trying to prevent his original from trying an escape.

The silver hedgebot briefly looked at Bolt. "We've been in here for too long. We have to try and escape! For all you know they might want to kill us!"

Metal Sonic 3.0 glared over at their cell, listening to their conversation.

"You can't just bust us out!" Bolt exclaimed.

"Just watch me!" Sniper barked back at him angrily, running over to the bars. "Hey, you! Faker! Why not show us what you can do and fight me, you rip-off of my brother!"

The futuristic Metal marched over to his cell at a quick pace, red irises blaring, as he stared right at Sniper.

Bolt, however, was just stood in the corner of the cell. He was frightened about what his brother might do to his relative from the past.

Sniper stared back at Bolt's older brother, until the cell door was just… ripped off! This changed Sniper's face from determined to frightened. "Oh… snap…" he shuddered.

Metal 3.0 then grabbed a hold of Sniper by his arms, throwing him across the room.

"Sniper!" Cheryl yelled, feeling helpless as she observed the starting fight.

…

**I'm gonna end it there since I haven't updated for ages! I need to start updating my other stories, too. I'm kinda rushing the 'Sonic Rivals' parts since I'm not that into the series, nor did I play the first one much. Still, Metal has come back! Metal 3.0 and Sniper are getting into a fight, too. Well, Sniper won't last long. Just kidding! :P We'll see next chappie! See youse! **


	21. Protection

**~Protection~**

Sniper grunted, staggering back up to his aluminium feet. "Hey… I wasn't ready!" he snapped at Metal Sonic 3.0.

The black and yellow hedgebot did not respond to what he just said, approaching him.

The chrome hedgebot whipped out his gun, aiming at Metal 3.0. "Ha! Betcha won't do much at gunpoint, will ya?"

In response, Metal 3.0 stopped in his tracks, but since the smaller robot was within arm's reach, he snatched the pistol from his grip, tossing it aside as he kept his eyes locked on Sniper.

Sniper backed off a little, shaking. For a former-servant robot, Metal 3.0 did prove to be quite strong. Not even Metal could tear a door from its hinges!

The gun which Metal 3.0 had thrown aside had slid close to the bars of Cheryl's cell. Upon realising this, the young girl reached her arm through the bars, stretching it as far as she could. Although she still lacked on knowing much about advanced technology, she knew that guns were fatal weapons which could kill somebody. Why Sniper would carry such things we would never know, but right now the weapon's wielder was in great peril.

Cheryl's fingertips were just touching the butt of the gun, continuing to break her stretching limits. Her arm was feeling painful now, as if someone was trying to rip it off, but she kept pushing herself, until she managed to just flick the gun closer to her cell. Cheryl eased herself, now managing to grab the gun, pulling it back into her small room and standing up, aiming at the black and yellow threat.

Sniper noticed that Cheryl was holding his silver gun. "Cheryl, shoot him! The bullets are made out of a thicker and denser metal which can penetrate robots, disabling their systems if hit in the right place!" he yelled to her. "The best place to shoot is his head! Aim for his head! It will destroy his main computer!"

"…What does that all mean!" Cheryl reacted, panicking. She didn't understand robotic dialect.

"I don't know, I'm just copying what Eggman told me!" Sniper responded. "Just shoot for his bloody head!"

"Right!" Cheryl agreed, trying to aim for Metal 3.0's head. Her hand was shaking a little.

Metal 3.0 glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He wasn't stupid, considering that he understood English. Of course he knew their plan, thanks to Sniper yelling it obviously, deciding to make himself a moving target which would be much harder to shoot. The future-Metal grabbed Sniper in a firm grip, punching him where his gut would be. Sniper felt the equal pain of an organic, leaning forwards and grunting painfully. Metal 3.0 then used his knee, kneeing Sniper in the chin, causing him to flip backwards and land on his back engine.

Bolt was watching from the corner he hid in. He hated seeing Sniper being hurt this way, also hating to see his brother behave this way. However, he knew that he was the only one besides Cheryl that could do something. The younger 'bot knew that he could free the others from their imprisonment at last while the other two machines fought. So, hesitantly and cautiously, he crept out of his open cell, sneaking to the neighbouring cell, which contained Techno-Matter. Bolt began to try picking the lock using his sharp finger, but it didn't work. He tried to tear the door from its hinges like his brother had done, but failed miserably.

Techno scanned Bolt, seeing that he didn't have much strength to use to try opening the door. "Your level of maximum energy is lower than Metal Sonic 3.0's energy. You cannot compare to his strength," he confirmed, still with that robotic voice of his.

Metal 3.0 heard Techno talking, turning his head to get a good look at what was happening. Seeing that it was Bolt, he just decided to pay no attention and return to beating up Sniper. After all, Bolt was no match for him, and Bolt would never try to fight him, for if he did, it was an instant trip to the scrap-yard for the smaller robot.

As Sniper lay on the floor, he saw Metal 3.0 walk towards him, keeping him pinned down using his foot. Sniper looked up at him, hiding his fear, then quickly glancing at Cheryl. "Cheryl! Now!" he yelled.

Cheryl nodded, looking away as she pulled the trigger, hearing the gun fire.

However, before Cheryl had fired the gun, Metal 3.0 had grabbed Sniper by his neck with one hand, so quick and unpredicted that nobody was ready for it, using the silver hedgebot as a shield. Although the type of bullets which Sniper used could easily go through a robot, once it came out of the other side, it was harmless since it would slow down, though it could inflict harm on humans and Mobians.

Sniper let out a crooked gasp when he felt the bullet from his own gun pierce through his back and out of his chest, simply bouncing of Metal 3.0 when it got to him, falling to the floor.

Cheryl looked, seeing what she had just done. She dropped the gun in utter horror, her green eyes widening as she could only stare at a suddenly-harmed Sniper in Metal 3.0's grasp. "S-Sn-Sniper…" she stuttered in a whisper, sounding as if she was freezing in cold weather.

Metal 3.0 dropped Sniper as if he was just nothing, kicking him away from his feet once he was on the ground. In fact, he had kicked Sniper to the barred door of Cheryl's cell, and he landed on his front.

Cheryl slowly crouched down onto all-fours so she was at Sniper's level. She jittered as her hand reached for his. Her organic hand was placed upon Sniper's metallic one, her thumb gently rubbing along the smooth metal. She saw Sniper's orange, pixel eyes look into hers, shaking her head slowly as she couldn't help but cry softly. Feeling extremely guilty for what she had just done, she told Sniper that it was all her fault.

Bolt saw his new friend and distant relative fatally wounded, a terrified look on his face as he looked at his older brother, trembling with pure fear. Metal 3.0 looked back at him over his shoulder, almost as if waiting for him to make some kind of choice. A choice to fight or to give in, a choice to go back to his side or to just run up to Sniper and try to help him like he would always do. In the end, Bolt just bowed his head in shame and sadness, returning to his cell and sitting on the "bed". He was silent for some time, deciding not to speak.

…

Metal and Alice had returned to the base. The silent atmosphere from the prison room seemed to have seeped around the entire base, since now the whole base seemed awkwardly quiet. Probably because Eggman Nega wasn't there, but for some reason Metal just had this eerie feeling.

Without warning, since now Metal was back to base and neither Nega or Metal Sonic 3.0 were in sight, the titanium blue grabbed Alice, covering her mouth firmly while using his other arm to keep her in a strong and tight grip. Alice tried to shout out for help, but it was no use. She sweated as she tried to glance over her shoulder to face Metal, afraid of what he might do and confused about why he had suddenly changed.

Metal just flared his scarlet eyes, almost as if telling her that if she resisted, her punishment would probably be a severely brutal beating or a horrid death. He began forcing her down towards the prison room, himself going with her, using her as a hostage. Metal knew that Metal 3.0 was down there guarding the prisoners which were his friends, and if he wasn't, then he'd just lock Alice in a cell with a bandana or something around her mouth to keep her quiet and free the others.

Arriving, Metal marched through the automatic doors, but irises turned a lime green when he saw Sniper lying on the ground, letting out a saddened bleep.

Everyone in the room turned their attention to Metal.

"Metal! Please tell us that this is you! You have to get us out of here!" EMMI shouted. She felt that now she could talk since he was there, and considering he held Alice in a violent way, it must have been him. "We have to help Sniper now!"

Metal 3.0 folded his arms, staring at Metal angrily. He was no longer focused on anyone else but him.

Metal stared back at his counterpart from the future, his irises bright red again.

Metal 3.0 did a motion with his hand, as if calling someone over or saying something like "pay up" or "come here". He did this to tell Metal to get away from Alice, and if Metal did want a fight, Alice had to be out of the way.

Metal pushed Alice over to Metal 3.0, causing her to stumble over, but Metal 3.0 caught her before she fell. Before he decided to fight, the future one brought Alice into one of the cells which was empty, shutting her in to protect her from the fight. He then returned to facing his opponent.

Metal got ready to fight Metal Sonic 3.0.

Metal Sonic 3.0 got ready to fight Metal.

Bolt shivered nervously, worried about his brother and Sniper, along with Metal, in a way.

Alice clasped onto the bars of the cell she was shut in, hoping that Metal 3.0 would win the fight.

EMMI stood in a worried way as she observed. "Come on, Metal…" she whispered, clenching her fists.

Techno-Matter just watched blankly to see what would happen.

Cheryl held onto Sniper's hand as she looked up at the fight while Sniper just lay there. _'You can do it, Metal…' _she thought to herself in a determined way. _'But please be quick… I don't want Sniper to die…'_

…

**Bah! Done! I didn't do character comments last time, did I? Let's see! :D**

**Metal: Hmm… Well, I've come back to my senses, but I would appreciate if I got my voice back. Then again, Sniper lost his voice, too.**

**Cheryl: No, I shot Sniper! I hope Metal teaches that other version of himself a lesson!**

**Sniper: …WHAT THE HELL! :( Why are you killing me! DON'T YOU DARE! I WANNA LIVE! *Still clinging to Purest of Hearts, now sad***

**Techno-Matter: It appears that we will be being freed soon. Metal Sniper is currently down.**

**Silver: Grr… Even when Sonic Rivals is passing – the game I'm in – I STILL get no say! No fair! I demand to be brought back into the plot!**

**EMMI: We need Silver. Oh, and I need to re-design myself. I look like Sonic! But still… I hope both Metal and Sniper are alright… and Silver… *sighs***

**Bolt: I-I don't know whose side to be on! Metal Sniper just got hurt because of my big brother, but I love my big brother! **

**Alice: Metal 3.0 will win. Just you wait and see, all of you! He's more powerful than that outdated machine that deserves to go back to the scrap-yard.**

…**Well, decent reactions. Hey, Sniper's okay down here! :3 But he's still clinging to Purest of Hearts…**

**Sniper: :D **

**I guess I'll see you next chapter, guys – and I really need to work on Sonic OVA 3. TTFN! **


	22. Hybrid

**~Hybrid~**

The two metallic Sonics stared at each other for a while, waiting for the other to make a move. It was only a short matter of time to wait until Metal flew towards Metal 3.0. His black and yellow twin held his arms out in front of him, grabbing hold of Metal's hands since he noticed that Metal was attempting to grab him. The two then tried to shove each other for a while, until Metal swung Metal 3.0 over onto his side, stomping on his chest and leaving a dent before he could get up. However, since Metal Sonic 3.0 was less-lifelike to Metal, he felt no pain and simply staggered back up. Metal just swooped him off balance by roundhouse kicking his leg, kicked him into the air, and when he landed, he upper-cutted his face, causing him to crash into the ceiling, then landing with a loud 'Thud!'.

Metal stood by Metal 3.0, placing a foot on his head, ready to crush it and end him for what he had done. He pressed down a little, as if telling Metal 3.0 to brace for his demise, which was going to be soon. However, Bolt tackled Metal down to protect his brother.

"Stop! Keep off of him!" Bolt pleaded, sounding afraid, considering that he tackled quite a strong robot down who was close to destroying Metal 3.0.

The titanium navy hedgebot allowed his irises to blaze with anger as he stared at Bolt. Bolt would have gone cold with fear if he was able to, but being the robot he was, it was impossible. Metal, on the other hand, would have strained against Bolt, but since the younger 'bot was weaker than he was, he merely just pushed him off onto his back. Rather than proceeding to try finishing off his own duplicate, he just grabbed Metal 3.0 and threw him in the cell with Alice once he had severely damaged his booster and ripped off his hands. He then went up to another cell – the one containing Techno-Matter, but this wasn't called for – and pulled off one of the bars, which had taken him a little bit of time. He was stronger since he was upgraded to rival against Nega's enemies, which was clearly visible right now. He used the bar and managed to bend it, twisting it around the bar of Metal 3.0's and Alice's cell. Metal then jammed one of Metal 3.0's removed hands into the wall, wrapping the end of the bar around it securely, assuring that the cell could not be opened. Once he was certain, he went up to each cell containing one of his allies, smashing the locks and causing the cells to creak open. When he went to free Cheryl, he just looked at her, then crouching down beside Sniper and gently rolling him onto his back.

Sniper looked up at him with his dim orange irises, holding the "wound" on his chest. "Met…al…" he gasped. "Broth…er… Help… me…"

Metal broke open Cheryl's cell after having a brief look at Sniper, turning his attention back to him instantly.

EMMI was looking over Metal's shoulder at the injured Sniper. "We've gotta help him now," she announced, her panic building up.

Metal looked back at her and nodded, then lifting Sniper up in his arms. Sniper winced when he was lifted, feeling pain again. Since upstairs was a laboratory, Metal could fix Sniper, heading up.

"Metal…" Sniper stuttered, catching his brother's attention before continuing to speak. "If… you're… going to repair me… I want to wake up as a robot like EMMI… or… not… wake up… at all…"

The brother of the younger one stopped for a moment. This would be difficult, but after time of thinking, Metal nodded, carrying on his walk as the others followed. Bolt was the only one who didn't follow, staying in the room.

…

Metal lied Sniper down on an examining table. The lab was mostly coloured white, including the table with the light above it. The light was not needed for Metal, since he could just scan Sniper of his damage. Besides, the light was only to help organic sights, plus it could damage Sniper's optic sensors.

"What's wrong with him? Is he going to be okay? Tell me he's going to be okay!" Cheryl cried.

Metal just looked at her, then looking back at Sniper. He moved Sniper's hand away from the damaged area gently, examining it. For a normal robot, this was nothing. For a NEPS robot or a hybrid robot, this was bad. No, it was serious.

EMMI noticed the damage on Sniper. "Metal, I think I know how to help him," she informed, sounding calm. "Render him unconscious, repair his chest, modify him a mouth, supply an oxygen mask, program him with lifelike features and fuse him with Cheryl's DNA."

Everyone in the room looked rather baffled.

"…What…?" Sniper reacted, his voice croaky.

EMMI sighed, shaking her head. "Let me do everything since I'm the smartest one here," she finalized.

Metal bleeped angrily.

The violet hedgebot looked at him. "Well, you can't talk," she sassed. "…Literally. What use are you if you can't even respond properly?"

Metal folded his arms, facing away, falling fully silent but remaining annoyed and frustrated.

"Right. Techno-Matter, get a DNA sample from Cheryl without severely harming her," EMMI commanded.

Techno nodded, facing Cheryl. "Would you be generous to offer a sample of blood?" he requested.

"…If it's the most effective way to get a DNA sample from me, fine," Cheryl obliged. "Only from a needle prick or something, since they hurt the least…"

"There are no needles in the laboratory," techno informed, the sword on his left arm flicking forward.

Cheryl stared at it. "Y-You wouldn't… hurt me that bad… w-would you?" she asked, her eyes widening, assuming Techno wanted to stab her or something.

"I will use the tip of my blade to draw some blood from your fingertip," Techno explained.

For a moment Cheryl stuttered, but she held out her right hand, palm facing upwards.

Meanwhile, EMMI had finished repairing the minor yet critical damage to Sniper's chest. Now she was working on the mouth, and she would not tolerate any disturbance.

Metal watched her, until hearing Cheryl yelp quietly, turning to look in her direction. She really was feeble compared to himself and the others. Then again, organics were always weaker – especially the organics who are peaceful and reject violence. Even worse for Cheryl – she was a girl.

"That hurt!" Cheryl announced, holding her bleeding finger while Techno held a test tube carefully, which contained about a drop of her blood.

"I was commanded to not severely harm you," Techno simply replied.

Cheryl seemed rather irritated. She would have clenched her fists, but with one hand holding the bleeding finger on her other hand, it was unlikely.

Metal just shook his head as he stood all chilled out against a control panel, one foot as support as he had both his arms folded. He really wanted to get everything over and done with right now.

EMMI was past her little struggle of forming Sniper's mouth, since she just copied her own data with that feature, and was now supplying him with oxygen as she began to add some programs into his system. Yes, Sniper couldn't be reprogrammed, but this didn't count as reprogramming. This was more like an upgrade.

Still bored, Metal just glanced around, until seeing a pair of familiar lime green eyes looking at him. This lab was well lit, so the bearer of these irises could not hide in the shadows, but he didn't seem to mind. Metal grew angry yet again. Every time he saw this one hedgehog, he just became… angry.

Mephiles was standing by the double-door entrance to the lab, the automatic doors he stood by leading to a hallway which was probably much duller than this laboratory. He motioned for Metal to come with him with his hands, then walking through the doors. Literally, he walked _through _them.

Metal decided to follow him, unable to physically walk through the doors, but as he walked they opened up for him, closing once he had passed through.

…

Rather than a dull chrome hallway, Metal was just in pitch black. Everything was just darkness. The only visible thing was the door behind him, which soon disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. He then turned back to face in front of him, seeing Mephiles walking towards him, seemingly on no visible ground.

"I find it humouring when I observe your pointless acts," Mephiles pinioned, pacing. "You are so confident with your fighting, but you really have no reason to fight."

Metal narrowed his eyes at him angrily. Well, he attempted to, at least. Quite honestly, his eyes were always narrowed.

"You know, Metal Sonic, with my ability to travel through the course of time, I have seen and observed a certain era which you don't even take part in," Mephiles continued. "The Robotic Revolution."

In confusion, Metal tilted his head only slightly. He had a less tense pose.

"This revolution was something you kept away from," Mephiles explained. "It lasted for some years. You and some other friends of yours rebelled, but your resistance was futile."

Metal was trying to think of what Mephiles was talking about, but also tried not to. Usually when he became too focused on what the dark experiment told him, he ended up in a huge crisis.

Mephiles then walked closer to Metal. "When it comes to that era, Metal Sonic, I'll observe your fall." He then placed both his hands on Metal's shoulders, which actually caused Metal to malfunction. He even managed to recover his vocal sensors, screaming.

…

"Metal? Metal!" Cheryl was yelling at Metal, who was on the floor having what seemed to be a fit.

Metal was holding his head, continuing to scream. EMMI held him down, preventing him from curling up. Cheryl helped.

"Metal, can you hear me? It's EMMI!" EMMI exclaimed. "I need you to calm down!"

Metal only continued to throw a fit, until suddenly, he stopped, falling silent. His red irises looked at EMMI, confused for a few moments as he slowly removed the hands from his head. "…Get off me," he eventually reacted, not amused.

EMMI stood up. "Wonder what caused you to do that," she wondered.

"It was Mephiles," Metal responded. "On the plus side, I got my voice back."

"I've noticed," EMMI acknowledged.

Metal then recalled the previous situation. "Sniper! What's happened to him? Has the process succeeded?" he questioned.

"Metal, he's fine," EMMI soothed. "We've done it. He just needs some time to rest and learn to breathe using that oxygen mask."

Metal looked relieved. "Thank goodness…" he responded. "How long until he wakes up?"

"About an hour," EMMI answered. "Hopefully Nega won't be back by then."

"Let's just hope," Metal agreed.

…

**Done! Sniper's gonna be okay. Metal's got his voice back, too! :D And Mephiles has returned! I need to get the 'Sonic Rivals' parts over and done with. Okay, cast, reactions!**

**Metal: My voice has finally returned. How dare Mephiles give me a malfunction like that…**

**Cheryl: Oh, thank goodness, Sniper's gonna be okay! Techno-Matter's kind of… vacant.**

**Sniper: YAY! YAY! YAAAAYYY! :D I'm gonna live! I'M GONNA LIVE! *starts singing* Ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin' alive, stayin' alive. Ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin' alive, stayin' alive. Ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin' ALIIIIII-IIIIVVEE!**

**Mephiles: Hmph. My return was not as dark as I expected it to be. I hope I do watch that machine suffer from depression and despair at the hands of his own kinds' revolution…**

**EMMI: Get 'Sonic Rivals' over with, get Silver back. End of. By the way, this chapter really shows the 'I' of my name – intelligence.**

**Silver: *Arms folded* Hmph! It's no use! I'll never return to this series! Now if you'll excuse me, Author, I'm going to go and kill the Iblis Trigger! *Runs out***

**Cynthia: I hope I return soon. *Raises Sceptre of Darkness* And I hope I get to use this.**

**Bolt: No! My brother! **

**Alice: I can't believe Metal 3.0 lost! He's stronger than Metal Sonic! Oh, but I guarantee he'll learn and get stronger!**

**Techno-Matter: My sword has finally been used.**

…**Yay! Full cast! …Except the Eggmans. And Callie. And Metal 3.0. I mean, he can't talk…**

**Sniper: I'm quite comfortable clinging to Purest of Hearts here. Anyone know any good chat-up lines?**

**Everyone: *Face-palm***

**Sniper: …I can dream, guys! :\**

**That's all for now! See you next chappie! Hopefully Sniper will wake up as his new and fresh self while EMMI gets a more feminine look! TTFN (what does that even mean? XD)!**


End file.
